The InterDimensional War
by Franz082011
Summary: A crossover between Halo, Gears of War, Mass Effect, and Star Wars. A continuation from the story, "A Loving Hope". The second installment in the A Loving Hope Chronicles. Read what happens next when the war with the Covenant is over.
1. The Uprising

A Loving Hope Chronicles

The InterDimensional War

The Uprising

"How long has it been? How long Arbiter?" asked Thel Vadam.

"Six Earth years, my lord." responded the Arbiter, Fal Moram.

The Councilors then began to talk amongst themselves. Each Sangheili Councilor just as puzzled as the next. Sangheilios was falling into a state of war with itself. Then one of the Sangehili spoke out saying,

"We should call for the Humans to help resolve this problem." said Field Marshal Ado Fulsam.

"We cannot just call upon them whenever we need to resolve something, we should try to solve it ourselves and if it is not resolved or seeming to get better in a Earth month then we shall call for them. However, as I am Supreme Councilor I say that the Humans shall not be involved until I see fit." said Thel Vadam

"Sire, perhaps we should withdraw our navy from that of the Humans, the other Separatists might hear about what is happening and warn the Humans. We should withdraw all of our troops for a while." said Imperial Admiral Xytan 'jar Wattinr.

"Very well I shall alert R'tas Vadum and Voro 'nar Mantakr to return with all of our troops." said Thel Vadam.

"But sire, wouldn't Armada Admiral Francis be alarmed at the large amount of troops and ships that will leave?" asked Councilor Thel Wamik.

Again all of the Sangheili began to quarrel with one another. Then Thel Vadam raised his hand and slammed it upon his throne and within a second thousands of Council Guard entered the massive chamber forcing many other high ranking Sangheili out. Some of which were of the Zealot class or even Honor Guards or Generals. As soon as they all left, the only ones left in the chamber were the Supreme Councilor and his 100 Councilors and couple thousand Council Guards.

"Has the council reached a verdict?" asked Thel Vadam.

"Yes, sire." they said in unison.

Thel Vadam was about to say something again before he noticed one of his Council Guards fall to their knees and scream in agony. Everyone present in the room looked towards the source of the noise and saw the guardsmen on the floor with blood all over him. Shocked, Thel ordered for the guards to protect the Councilors, by now majority of the Councilors had pulled out their energy swords in an attempt to defend themselves. The doors were soon broken down and many Honor Guards began pouring into the room, the Honor Guard Ultra leading them gave them the order to seek out the assassin and to murder him. As soon as the elite was killed, the Honor Guard Ultra called for Thel Vadam to step outside.

As Thel stepped outside he was shocked as to what he saw. It was a battlefield, Sangheili killing Sangheili. Thel could almost feel his heart stop beating but then he notices a fleet of Separatists ships and became somewhat grateful.

"Supreme Councilor, we will help you clean up this mess." says R'tas.

"Thank you, brother but do the Humans know?" he asked.

"Yeah, we know but if you want us to leave we can." said Armada Admiral Francis as his UNSC ships arrived.

"I must admit that we might need your assistance for our world is on the verge of a Civil War." Thel replied.

Sangheilios was burning now, the constant battles were leaving large areas of the planet scarred by molten plasma and hot lead. All these battles fought within a day but all across the planet. Family members murdering each other. With no choice left Thel called upon the Arbiter and the veterans of the Human-Covenant War and the Covenant Civil War to wipe away any Sangheili in their way. Thel Vadam could do nothing more but bring Sangheilios back to its imperialistic ways once more. He declared marshal law and blockaded his own planet. Many of his own Councilors were killed throughout the fight but he knew that he had to press on.

"Francis, how many UNSC ships did you bring?" asked Thel.

"31,661. Why?" asked Francis.

"I want you to evacuate the civilians. All of them please, I beg you. Bring them to Earth or Reach just get them out of here, I will not continue this campaign until they are safe." said Thel.

At first Francis had to think. How would he move 6 billion people with only 31,661 ships. He couldn't do it if he left his troops inside the ships as well so he decided on something that would help but first he had to call upon someone with more power of him and thus over the Human race.

"You know I would but what about Hope? She's only 5 years old who would I leave her with?" asked a familiar voice.

"Leave her with the Doctor. She'd love to spend time with her granddaughter." Francis pleaded.

"How long?" the voice asked again.

"A month least and three at most." Francis asked.

"How can you pull away a mother from her child?" Gabby asked.

"Who else can do this job right and keep the Sangheili calm?" he asked.

"Fine I'll be there by tomorrow." Gabby said rolling her eyes.

"Thank you, I love you." Francis said.

"Yeah, yeah,yeah love you too." Gabby responded.

Francis then had to tell all of his troops that they all had to get off the ship to make space for the civilians. Majority of them asked where they would go and Francis explained his plan. Some of them looked puzzled and wondered why they had to stay on Sangheilios for three months. Francis had no choice but to make it an order and some of the troops grudgingly followed. Majority of the troops on his ships were ODSTs because he didn't want to risk landing his ships on the surface of a hostile planet.

When Gabby arrived on the Infinity-class ship, Francis had noticed that there was more than one life signal on the Pelican. A total of 6 extra life signals other than just Gabby's. Francis thought of it as nothing and believed it to be her escorts and he went down to the launch bay as her Pelican arrived. As the Pelican landed, Francis grew anxious to see why there were other life signs on the Pelican. Then the Pelican's hatch opened and Francis saw something he couldn't believe.

"Hey, Francis." he heard Gabby say.

"What are all of you doing here?" Francis replied shocked at what he saw.

"We came because you need us here, and don't even think of sending us back." Cortana responded.

"Haha, I guess I should've seen this coming but none the less I'm glad your all here." he grudgingly admitted.

"Just so were clear, I didn't ask them to come. Cortana was "listening in" on our conversation yesterday and decided to... What was it you said Cortana?" Gabby said.

"Get the gang back together." she responded solidly.

Francis was glad to see some familiar faces but was worried about them too. He was glad that he has a bunch of people who had each others back but was scared about losing one of them which is why he initially didn't ask them to come with him on this mission. He was wondering what it had to take to keep these key people alive.

"So... Are you gonna allow us to come on your ship?" asked John-117.

"Do I have a choice?" asked Francis.

He invited them to enter his ship and even showed them around. As they started to come up on the SpecOps Training Facility Center or also known as the SOTF Center, John and Kelly somehow got mixed up with them. She began teaching the Spartan-IVs, Titans, HellJumpers, and FreeLancers the basics of combat, teamwork, and planning for every possible situation. John was teaching them how to do things without a squad should the event come up that they were separated. Francis and the rest who were still with him decided to leave the two Spartans to their work. When they entered the ODST barracks, it was natural that Michael being the HellJumper or the so called Super ODST, decided to try and pass on all his knowledge about how to successfully drop in and not "dig your own grave" and how to open up another squad mates hatch. Francis looked and saw that it was only him, Gabby, Miranda, Jake, and Cortana. They then began moving up until they came across a certain part of the ship.

"I suppose this is where Cortana departs from us." said Francis.

At first Cortana blushed a little as she had secretly missed Francis in the months that he was away. She was conflicted as to why she always had the feeling of jealousy when she saw Gabby and Francis together. She knew that he was there before John and Noble Six was because he was there at her birth. She wondered how he'd feel since they were kind of like siblings to each other. The fact that he thought of her that way sort of hurt her. Suddenly, she realized that Francis was looking at her strangely. He had the look that at first was of genuine concern and looked very worried for her but then she responded with a "huh?". She noticed that he had a smile that showed just how relieved he was. She couldn't tell if it was in a passionate way or in the family way.

"So Cortana, is this where we say goodbye?" asked Francis.

She began to tear up quickly much to everyone's concern. She pulled a hand over her mouth because she couldn't believe what he was saying. Miranda was trying to comfort her but she kept rejecting it. Finally she said something as she ran straight into Francis' arms and hugged him tightly.

"I've missed you so much, don't ever let me go! I don't want to leave you! I love you and I can't stand being away from you anymore." she wailed.

Gabby, Miranda, and Jake just looked at Francis for a while. He just smiled because he knew exactly what he had to do. He hugged Cortana back tightly and told her that everything was going to be okay and that he would try and visit the group as much as possible on the holidays. Cortana felt her heart sink thinking that he didn't understand what she really meant. Gabby, Miranda, and Jake thought that Francis hadn't lost his sensitive side throughout the war and that he missed them too. As soon as they reached the debriefing room where platoon leading commanders who led ground attacks were staying, more commonly known as the "Officers Lounge" would stay, Miranda left to see what the next ground mission would be.

"Hmm... Just 3 left. To be honest I thought you would've left when we passed by the Research and Development Laboratory." Francis said with a hand by Cortana's waist.

Gabby had to leave the group early as her mother was trying to contact her over one of the video calls in Recreation Center. Almost immediately after she left, Jake had met up with some of the Mother of Invention's onboard troops commonly referred to as "Mercs". Jake went to go help the training of the FreeLancer candidates. Francis decided to take Cortana to his quarters as he was getting tired.

"So... This is a nice room..." Cortana said.

"Yeah... Ok so we need to talk." Francis replied.

Cortana heard her heart race and she grew incredibly worried about what Francis wanted to talk about. Then she remembered that Francis and the others were completely oblivious as to what happened earlier and got a little more comfortable. She turned her head to the side to act as if she was oblivious as to what was going on.

"What about?" Cortana asked.

"Don't play coy. I know what you meant by what you said earlier, I'm not stupid you know. To be honest, I've sort of missed you in a special way too. I've always felt like we've had a special kind of bond. Almost as if we were meant to be more..." Francis said.

"Oh my god, Francis that is exactly how I feel. I love you." Cortana said.

"Cortana let me finish. You have to understand that I have a daughter with Gabby and that I love her and that she is my universe. I'm sorry if that hurts but you have to understand that you have John. He's been there for you for a decade already. I love you Cortana, but its nothing compared to how much I love Gabby." Francis said regretfully.

"I see, I understand. Thank you for making me understand and for putting me down easily. I do love John but it will be a while before I'm completely over you." Cortana said.

She then handed Francis her data pad. Francis looked at it and saw that it was filled with very tempting pictures of Cortana mostly fully nude and even a video of what she wanted to do with Francis. Francis then looked at her as she offered him one last chance to do it just to get the feelings out. Grudgingly he denied. Gabby then stepped into the room and told Cortana that John was looking for her. She turned back to Francis and he returned her data pad and she went off. Cortana left somewhat sad but realized how much in love she was in with John.

Soon the gang gathered to discuss the matters of the war. He opted to use a couple of Covenant SuperCarriers which weren't being used. Their weapons systems weren't online but they just had to survive for 10 minutes so that they could jump to Reach plus their shielding system was still intact. The Arbiter told Francis that he would have to ask the remnants of the Council first because that would drastically alter their original plans.

"The SuperCarriers are not being used in our fleet, they have no weapons system, but they still retain their heavy shielding. Why not use those instead of 31,661 UNSC ships? We could use their firepower to end this uprising quickly." said the Arbiter.

The Council began to debate amongst itself. The Supreme Councilor, Thel Vadam conflicted. The Council then quickly settled down without the order of the Supreme Councilor, much to his amazement. He was astonished that the Council quickly became quiet.

"Have we reached a verdict?" Thel Vadam asked.

"We shall use the SuperCarriers. However, half of the Sangheili Imperial Air Force must accompany the vessels through the portal. Have we reached a decision, Arbiter?" asked the Council.

"Yes. Armada Admiral Francis says he will send a large complement of Broadswords as well, Councilors." the Arbiter responded.

"Very well then Arbiter, go and gather the Generals who are not posted as Personal Guards to gather every home on Sangheilios and empty them into the SuperCarriers." Thel Vadam said.

"Wait, but sire how will we know which of the civilians are not a part of this uprising?" asked one of the Councilors.

"Does it matter? These are our people regardless of affliction. The point of this council is to defend Sangheilios and ALL her inhabitants, Councilor." said the Arbiter.

"Watch your tone, Arbiter." the Councilor said as he sent his Council Guards to restrain him.

Suddenly two Council Guardsmen moved closer to the Arbiter drawing out their energy swords. As they activated them however, a couple of Sangheili Ultras with the old Reach era armor colored pitch black with a golden trim and red visor slits shoved them away from the Arbiter. They were the Arbiter's Guards. Hand selected by the Arbiter of the best Ultras not lucky enough to be promoted to General status. They must've been able to hold their own for at least 5 minutes against the Arbiter in sword dueling. Should they fail they earn the title of swordsman but are not selected to be part of the Arbiter's Guard, but if they passed their armor was repaired, repainted, cleaned, and modified to that of the Arbiter's Guard. Completely loyal to the Arbiter and the Arbiter only, sworn to defend him no matter who his pursuer was.

"Enough!" Thel yelled which caused the Council Guards to back off. The ten Honor Guard Ultras surrounding the Supreme Councilor came to an attention with energy swords activated on both hands.

Imperial Admiral Xytan 'jar Wattinr entered with his escort of Personal Guards (which are basically Generals who were selected by the Zealots). He came in to discuss the matters of the people as he was desperately concerned by it.

"What are we to do about the people? We must find a way to protect them from the tyranny of this uprising." asked the Imperial Admiral.

Thel couldn't help but rub his temples because of having to deal with so many voices trying to talk at the same time. He was frustrated. Angrily he slammed his fist down on his throne once more.

"I want everyone out of this room except the 2 highest representative of the Councilors, the SpecOps Commander, the Imperial Admiral, Field Marshall, the Light of Sangheilios, the Arbiter, Guardian of the Sangheili, and the Kaidon Overlord... Now!" Thel yelled with extreme anger.

Quickly all of the Sangheili who weren't mentioned began to run out of the room as quickly as possible. Each Guard quickly left as well, all out of fear because Thel had activated Plasma Sword and Energy Sword. His Golden Councilor armor still glowing and still just as polished as the day he had received them.

"Alright then, forgive me for my tone earlier but that was to much talking going on at once for me." Thel said guitily.

"It is alright, my friend. However, I have a feeling the Councilors will be more afraid of you." Sesa Refum said laughing.

"Sire, if I may now continue with the Uprising, I should mention that they have organized into "The Storm". Surprisingly the Jirilhalnae and Yanme'e have no part in it." Usze Taham said.

"What?! Do they know about The Storm? said Xytan jar Watinnr.

"Yes they do. The Jirilhalnae and Yanme'e are both organizing their military in order to try and stop The Storm. However, the Jirilhalnae are currently on the defense and the Yanme'e are retreating." Usze Taham replied back.

"Contact Armada Admiral Francis and his fleet." Thel said to Sesa Refum.

"At once, my liege." he shot back.

His fleet was massive. Every since the end of the war between Humanity and the Covenant, all the UNSC could do is build up its military, upgrade all its personnel, upgrade the weapons, upgrade its ships and vehicles, and most importantly, build up its security. ONI and the NMPD received more weapons and equipment that were considered outdated by the UNSC, the UEFD created their own kind of armor and received supplies from the UNSC, and the UNAD were given full control of the "wet navy" once owned by the UNSC and received plenty of equipment.

"This is Armada Admiral Francis, who are you and how did you get on this frequency?" Francis asked.

"Titan, this is Supreme Councilor Thel Vadam, I don't mean to bother you but our scanners picked up a couple of slip-space ruptures and I'm questioning if they are yours or not." Thel asked.

"Yes they were mine, sorry I should've warned you first." Francis said.

"That is alright, but may I have a update on how many ships you have now?" Thel shot back.

"17,476 UNSC ships in total and 14,185 Covenant ships also. So a grand total of 31,661 ships under my command." Francis said proudly.

"How about the ships guarding Earth?" Xytan asked.

"750,000-1,000,000 ships in orbit and battle ready and every hour 15 new ships are produced. I also sent at least a battle group to each home world of the Separatist." Francis said almost in a cocky tone.

"We need a favor of you and your current fleet, the 1st Fleet of Unflinching Punishment. We need you to engage the Storm and their entire fleet." Thel Vadam asked.

"Alright then." Francis responded.

As transmissions ended between the Sangheili capital and the UNSC Invincible, Francis grew worried. He had requested that every marine in his fleet be upgraded to Mk. 0 Marine armor (Halo Wars Era) for the extra protection. He even introduced his Orbital troops. His Orbitals could take on a platoon of ODSTs and a battalion of BHUEMs (Battle Hardened Upgraded Experienced Marines).

"I want a personnel check. I wanna know what kind of troops we got." said Francis.

"We have BHUEMs, ODSTs, UEFD Spartan-IVs, UNAD HellJumper-IIs, ONI FreeLancer-IIs, UNSC Titan-Is, NMPD SWATs, UNAD Rangers, UEFD Commandos, ONI Mercs, NMPD Officers, and basically everything from the UNAD, UNSC, UEFD, ONI, and NMPD." said Scarlett.

"Is that all?" he asked back.

"Well, we have the ships personnel and guards but besides that, that's all." Scarlett said back.

As he checked through the ships vehicle list and inventory he noticed he had a massive amount of vehicles also and had a large diversity of weapons and ammo. He then realized something, he had more than enough man power and supplies to take Sangheilios. He decided to push such thoughts aside and vowed not to act on them. Just as he took his vow, Thel Vadam entered the bridge. He looked over his shoulder and noticed that the Sangheili had given up all of his weapons to the ships security. He began to try and avoid talking of what bothered the human but eventually he had to talk about it.

"I know what your thinking... That look on your face... Your body language. You made a very important decision and picked the right one. I know because... Because I made the mistake when I was faced with that decision... You were thinking of taking Sangheilios and you could've, but you didn't. Humanity has always been stronger, smarter, faster, braver, and even more stubborn. Your greatest moments are when you face annihilation because that's when you unite and when united, your unbeatable. That is what every Covenant soldier feared most."

"You invaded Earth, destroyed all of her colonies, murdered billions of innocent lives. Entire families gone... Man, woman, or child... It never mattered to you... To any of you... And now we have the option to return the favor and to do what you did to us... But you forgot 1 thing, the thing that makes us Humanity... No matter who we lost in the past, it only fueled our fire to end the war... The 1 thing you forgot is that we will endure forever." Francis said.

Thel nodded at him and seemed to have smiled. He asked for his Honor Guard Ultras to enter the bridge with his gift to Francis. As they entered the bridge, their armor shimmered. These Sangheili clad in white armor and one with gold armor were some of the best. Francis watched as the gold one in the middle, the Honor Guard Zealot, was carrying a box. It was roughly 1 meter total and did not look too heavy even for a civilian.

"Armada Admiral Francis, it is with my greatest pleasure that we gift these to you." Supreme Councilor Thel Vadam said as the other Sangheili opened the box.

"Two handles? Thank you..." he said questionably.

"Hahaha, activate them and see what they do." Thel said.

As he activated them, they became a shield and a sword. Both were a very succulent color of yellow with light blue as an outline. The shield was that of a ancient spartan hoplite and even the sword was. The shield had a blue up side down delta emblem. Both were strong enough to take a 4 direct hits from a tank and the sword could even cut through a old navy carrier down the middle before losing power completely. One hit from the shields could disable the shields of a Sangheili Councilor and the sword would be more than enough to kill him.

"I don't know what to say... All I can think of is thank you. I will treasure them always." Francis said.

Afterwards, Francis took 250,000 troops, 10 Mammoths, 100 Elephants, 300 Oliphants, 5,000 Scorpion tanks, 12,000 Wraiths, 7,500 Revenants, 3,000 Spectres,2 2,500 Ghosts, 200 Shadows, 5,000 Warhogs, 1,000 Pelicans, 15,000 Hornets, 15,000 Cyclopses and Mantises, 75 Scarabs, 24,000 Vampires, 2,500 Vultures, and 1,500 Gremlins to the surface. As they arrived, they saw that the ground was purged from his Covenant ships and cratered from his UNSC ships. Sangheilios was scarred and damaged greatly by Glassing Beams and MAC Cannons. As Francis sat inside one of the Mammoths, his Field Commander, Commander Forge told him that the army was ready to begin its long march to the 'Mdama Keep.

"Thank you Commander, also have the grunts bring my crates into this Mammoth." Francis said.

"Yes, sir." Forge said as he left.

When the troops brought his armor crates to him, he pulled out the black gel suit first and pulled it on. He pulled on his boots first, crotch guard next, hand guards, forearm guards, shoulder pads, torso guard, and inserted his AI chip, Christine, into his helmet and placed it on the table. His armor was a PathFinder helmet, Rogue shoulders, Enforcer torso, Contoured forearm, Contoured leg armor, and a black visor. As he finished putting his armor together, he walked over to the armory on the Elephant behind the Mammoth and grabbed a DMR, a BR, a couple Plasma Grenades, Active Camo, and activated Fire Power and Dexterity on his armor. He turned to his Mammoth and sat back down on his chair.

"Sir, Field Marshal Ado Fulsam has arrived and is requesting for a meeting on the 2nd Elephant." said Sgt. Ramirez.

"Alright, thank you." he responded.

As he jumped off the Mammoth and walked onto the Elephant, he saw the Field Marshal looking at the screen on the bottom level of the Elephant and was trying to examine how far they were from the 'Mdama Keep. He noticed how he was wearing Zealot armor but it was gold with a white trim. The Field Marshal looked very disturbed about something but Francis couldn't put his finger on it.

"Hello, Ado Fulsam." Francis started.

"Hello, Armada Admiral, please forgive me for what I must do..."

Francis looked puzzled. Suddenly before he could say anything, 2 Personal Guards grabbed his arms and Ado Fulsam drew his Energy Sword. Some of the Marines saw this and in protest tried to stop the Personal Guards but the Personal Guards, with what seemed to be grief on their faces, stabbed the oncoming troops with their armor's Energy Knives and watched them drop to the floor.

"Field Marshal, you know what we are doing is wrong. The Humans came in our time of need and now we turn on them?" said one of the Personal Guards.

"We are loyal to our people, loyal to our Supreme Councilor, and loyal to our state. We will do as we are told or have our families suffer." Ado responded grudgingly and looking at Francis sorrowfully.

"Forgive us Human, we must follow our Supreme Councilor or our families would suffer." he added.

As he said this he drove his energy knives through his chest and regrettably quickly yanked it out of his body. Francis' body jerked and he dropped onto the floor looking at Ado Fulsam one last time before shutting his eyes.

As Francis' vision faded, his troops began to get slaughtered. The Sangheili had no choice except to kill the very race that came to their aid. When Francis awoke, he saw a dead battlefield. The Sangheili had struck back at him when he had originally came to help. He knew the Storm was behind this and he was eager to return to Thel at the Vadam Keep. When he arrived there, Thel was shocked to see that the Titan was so hurt. He immediately sought medical attention for the human. Francis quickly dropped to the floor.


	2. Unknown Contact

A Loving Hope Chronicles

The InterDimensional War

Unknown Contact

While the Supreme Councilor dealt with the treachery of the Storm, he was alarmed with disturbing news.

"What?!" Thel screamed.

"It's a rip in dimensions. We have no idea how it got there but we know that on the other side is something outside our universe." Cortana said.

The United Council discussed what they would do. They have never faced a tear in dimensions before, nor did any believe these kinds of things were possible. The Council was quiet, they now feared having to fight two wars at once. Not to mention the fact that the Jirilhalnae and Yan'me were blockaded by the Storm.

"Does the Storm know of the rupture? Have they done anything?" asked Ado Fulsam.

"Yes, they've sent ships through it and many have returned damaged." said Miranda Keyes.

"Then, we must block it off, we cannot risk having the Storm and the aliens partnered against us." shot R'tas Vadum.

With the Councils decision reached, Francis stepped into the room. All eyes were on him and many wondered how he had recovered so fast. Ado Fulsam, was especially worried as he had been the one to strike him. He ran to Francis, knelt and apologized for his treachery. Francis forgave him and they continued to discuss what was happening. As soon as Francis was informed, he spoke out:

"So that settles it, we are to blockade the rupture and I and a few select guards will venture through to talk with whomever they wish to be represented by." he said to everyone's surprise.

Before anyone could object, however, he left calling for candidates to accompany him. He chose 10 in total, 3 Titans, and 7 Spartan-IVs. Before he left, he instructed his commanders to carry out his orders. About 1,000 UNSC ships departed to free the Jirilhalnae home world and another 1,000 were sent to aid the other resistance forces against the Storm. Then he assigned the remaining 31,926 ships to guard the rupture and Sangheilios. However, Gabby had sent a battle-group of 1 Leviathan class SuperCarrier, 4 Marathon class Heavy Cruisers, 7 Tunge class Heavy Battleships, 10 Orthrus class Super Destroyers and 25 Paris class Frigates.

As he left to enter the void he found himself facing dozens of alien ships. They opened fire but he immediately sent a transmission of peace. He then boarded a Pelican and flew over to the alien ships, worried of what he would have to face.

On the bridge of the flagship Clone Field Marshall Angel was contemplating why the aliens had no intention of fighting. Quickly, Commander Keeli and Fil told Angel that the alien ship was about to come on deck. Angel went to the hanger with his escort of Senate Guards to await who he was about to meet. They were still struggling in their war effort against the newly formed Empire and majority of his commanders were deployed across the galaxy. Luckily, since the Empire was dominating the galaxy, Bo Katan led the Mandalorian Protectors alongside Novus Vizla. Novus was a nephew of Pre Vizla and he bore his uncles armor.

Bo was on a Acclamator class Assault ship and Novus was on another. Though Bo was the leader of Mandalore, Novus commanded the Shadow Mandalorians, Super Commandos (Clone Wars Era), and the Death Watch. Bo on the other hand led the Mandalorian Security Forces and the newly formed Mandalorian army which donned Death Watch armor but only colored Black, Gray, Silver, and White. Bo's battle-group consisted of 7 Acclamator class Assault ships, 25 Vicotry-II class Frigates, 40 Ardent class Frigates and 20 Keldabe class Battleships

When they arrived, Bo and Novus went to Angel's capital ship to confront the aliens. Commander Wolffe and his battle group of 10 Imperial-II class frigates came and he also ventured to confront the aliens.

When Francis and his troops landed in the hanger, he was expecting a fight before any talks could get started so he brought along his gifts from the Supreme Councilor and ignited them. A Phantom carrying a Sangheili Councilor and 15 Council Guards also came along. Francis gave the order for the hatch to open and he stepped off the Pelican. Almost immediately he had a gun to his head which caused his troops to react. The Sangheili then came down and the same was done to them.

"We mean you no harm, but if that gun is still pointed at my head in 5 seconds someone's gonna get hurt." Francis said.

Angel was shocked to see his 2nd in command in the hanger. It was Erebos, the General of the Burning Shadow Legion. One of the most feared warriors in the galaxy, he rarely took orders from people he didn't know. Angel gave him the order to stand down and he did so. He walked off to his platoon of Dark Troopers and Terror Troopers.

"What do you want?" Angel asked.

"I want to find peace between us and our allies. Those that came through before are our enemies." Francis responded.

"Come then let us talk for peace between us." Angel responded.

As they were walking Erebos shoved the Spartans and Titans out of the way and to follow Angel. Commanders Wolffe, Keeli, and Fil all saluted Erebos who nodded in response. One of the Spartans suggested shooting all the aliens but Francis quickly put down such ideas. While Angel, Erebos, Bo, Novus, and the commanders discussed the peace agreement with Francis and the Sangheili Councilor an Imperial fleet had come through to attack the Republic.

"Warning, this is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill. All hands to battle stations Imperial boarding craft inbound!" a voice said over the intercom.

Without hesitation Erebos and his troops ran out to meet the enemy followed by everyone else. In the hanger Stormtroopers and Clones were fighting amongst each other but due to the Emperor's Shadow Guards the Clones were getting beat back. Erebos gave his men the order to attack and a battle followed suit. Francis instructed his party to not engage but when he was struck down by one of the Emperor's Shadow Guard he had no choice but to retaliate. Francis' troops began aiding the Republic in fighting back the Imperials but the Shadow Guards were too much. There were only the 10 of them left yet they proved to be a match for the troops. Erebos drew out his dual double sided dark saber and quickly beheaded all 10 with ease. With that the battle on the hanger was finished. However, there was still an armada of Imperial ships attacking them. Erebos spoke to Francis instructing him to go back through the portal and bring help to them as the Republic was outnumbered 3-1 and he did so. The Sangheili followed and together they returned through the portal.

Luckily, on their side, they were able to maintain control over the rupture but Francis quickly instructed for all of his ships stationed at the rupture to follow him through and he ordered for his dispatched battle-groups to return now. As they arrived Francis and his fleet of 31,926 ships entered the rupture. On the other side all the Imperials saw was a large force entering the battlefield and attacking them. The Republic ships formed up with the UNSC and together they annihilated majority of the armada before it fled.

"Francis, is that you?" asked Angel.

"Yes, it is. Erebos told me to bring reinforcements." he responded.

As the two once again met, this time on Francis' ship they continued peace talks. They began comparing technology, weapons, armor, ships, training, and of course governments.

"We were once united under the Jedi, however, they have all passed on and with no one to train a future generation, they became extinct." Bo said.

"What happened to them if I may ask?" Gabby asked.

"The emperor sent his finest troops and assassins to target them. Each Jedi, whether young or old had about 50 people targeting him or her at any given time. We did our best to protect them we even stationed Gen-0 and Gen-1 troops again to guard them but the adversaries were to much for anyone. When the last of the Jedi passed, Erebos came to save me from a attempted assassination. He had been recruiting an army of his own to assassinate the Emperor. When we did so, we also caused many Sith to arise and with no Jedi to combat them we took up the cause. Every Fett clone followed me and we freed Kamino in order to amass a new army. Next, we went to Kuat to build ships, and finally we saved Mandalore from a Sith Invasion. The Sith and the Empire have combined and ever since then we have been at war." said Angel.

"I see, what other allies do you have?" asked Cortana.

"The CIS, droids that we have to help combat the Sith Empire. Mostly Crab droids, Dwarf Spider droids, Destroyer droids, MagnaGuards, Assassin droids, Commando droids, and Super Battle droids. They are manufactured at Geonosis." Commander Thire said.

"Any other allies?" Cortana responded.

"Majority became mercenaries but other than that we have the Mon Calamari, Pirates, Wookies, Quaren, and Gungans." Thire responded.

"Well, you can add us and our allies to that list." Francis said.

"From what I've heard, if you fail then the Sith Empire will come through the portal to attack us and if we fail the Storm will invade you." Francis added.

"So it's settled then, we are now in an Alliance." Angel said.

The Council of all commanders under Angel and all leaders under Francis agreed that there was now an alliance. The Humans, Elites, Brutes, Hunters, Grunts, Jackals, Drones, Engineers, Geonosians, Droids, Clones, Mon Calamari, Wookies, Quaren, Gungans, Pirates, and Mandalorians were reformed into the Alliance for Peace.

Back on Francis' side, the Librarian had set the Prometheans and Sentinels free of the Didact's control so now they were added to the alliance. However, the amount of warriors in the Storm and in the Sith Empire was still extremely great.

The Flood was still out there somewhere and would soon return to the galaxy. However, the Alliance began trading amongst itself, and even fusing militaries. The unity amongst the Alliance was strong. People were migrating through the rupture to see what new lives they could have and on the war front, the combined efforts of the Alliance drove back both the Sith Empire and the Storm. The Librarian was brought samples of the species on the other side of the rupture and, to everyone's astonishment, knew nothing about them.

"How interesting! As advanced as the Forunners had gotten, we never believed that alternate universes had existed. This is most fascinating." she said.

As Francis walked on the bridge of his capital ship, Angel warned him that a large Imperial fleet was en route to Coruscant and that he would not be able to respond on time. He begged that Francis rendezvous with Clone General Appo and his elite cadre of Clones, the 501st Legion. As soon as Angel was done explaining, Appo contacted him:

"Sir, this is General Appo, I could really use some assistance over here. I've only got about 200 ships in total and the Sith Empire is sending in thousands of Victory-II class Star Destroyers and Frigates. If you don't get here in time then head straight down to the planet and defend it." Appo pleaded.

"I'll do my best to get there on time." Francis responded.

As communication between the two ended, Francis organized a fleet of about 150 carriers and 500 frigates to follow with him to Coruscant. He asked how long it would take before they arrived at Coruscant. His navigation officer responded that it would take at least 6 hours. Then, he asked how long until the Sith Empire arrived and the navigation officer responded with 1 hour. Francis grew worried that he might've arrived to back up a graveyard. To ease his mind he asked his AI, Christine, how much of a chance Appo stood against the Sith Empire fleet.

"Clone General Appo has a 30-70 chance of holding the line but a 50-50 chance of surviving should he leading his ships to the planet." Christine responded.

Francis felt a little better about that but was still worried the large numbers of enemy ships would completely wipe out the Republic fleet.

(5 hours until arrival in Coruscant space)

By now, the Sith Empire had already began engaging the Republic fleet and Appo had already lost 10 ships but took out hundreds of the Sith Empire's. When the ship's captain informed Appo that the Victory-II class Star Destroyers were charging their main batteries he gave all his ships the order to evacuate to the planet. He lost 25% of his ships while trying to get to the planet and returned to Courcant with only 125 from his original amount of ships. As they prepared to land, many boarding craft latched onto them forcing hundreds of Stormtroopers into the hanger of Appo's flagship.

"All personnel report to your battle stations!" Appo said as he grabbed his DC-15 blaster and headed towards the hanger door.

Him and about 50 of his troops arrived and took defensive positions. When the hanger doors opened, hundreds of Stormtroopers were waiting to open fire and they did. Only a few of his troops were killed but as that happened his Rail-ARC troopers came to help. The battle was fair up until a Imperial Sith Acolyte came out escorted by 10 Imperial Royal Guards. He slaughtered most of Appo's troops and killed several Rail-ARCs.

Appo did his best to defeat the Imperial Sith Acolyte and his escorts but they were too much for him. Luckily, Vill and Bow came out with AT-RTs and made easy work of them and saved Appo. Then the 3 commanders made their way to the bridge and gave the authorization code to land their ships on Coruscant and began setting up defenses.

(3 hours until arrival in Coruscant space)

"Someone contact General Appo." Francis said.

As his communications officer hurried to get a stable connection with Appo, Francis grew worried that he wouldn't arrive on time. After all this time he hadn't thought of what to do if the Sith Empire had taken Coruscant space. He thought and examined all his available options.

"I could have all ships fire their MACs the second we get out but what if Appo held the line and we shoot some of his ships... Hmm..." he was in deep thought until his Communications officer got his attention.

"Sir, I've got a connection." he said proudly.

Francis nodded in approval and proceeded to talk with Appo. He asked if Appo had been able to hold the line and if Commanders Fox and Thire had majority of the defenses set up. He asked how many ships he had lost and how many casualties. Finally, he checked on how many ships the Sith Empire sent.

"1,500 so far." Appo said.

Francis was contemplating. He couldn't just dash through all of them if he wanted to keep most of his ships. Yet if he didn't get down there fast enough Appo and the other commanders would get overrun. Finally, he came up with an idea and a great one at that.

He ordered all oh his ships to get a round loaded in the MACs and have another 10 ready to be loaded, all turrets loaded with top tier ammo, Shiva class nuclear mines primed, Archer pods loaded and ready to launch, and all fighters armed with rockets, missiles, torpedoes, bombs, each fighter's cannon loaded with armor piercing tracer shots, and even hydrogen and atomic bombs. His Pegasus class Super Carriers had 5 MACs each and his Stalwart class Medium Frigates each had 2 MACs but his flagship (Pegasus class Super Carriers) had 1 SMAC and 4 MACs. A single shot from a SMAC could punch a hole through 3 Covenant Super Carriers. Each of his ships even had at least 1 Mass Driver on them. Then, he devised his plan. First, each ship launches all its Archer missiles, then launch the Shiva class nukes, fighters get sent out to attack, and MACs, SMACs, and Mass Drivers shoot off any capital ships left.

"After we punch that hole we have to be fast and fly through it and land. At that point we go full thrusters forward and once all enemy ships are behind you raise rear shield to 200%. All fighters gotta land back on fast because if we past that blockade and you ain't with us, your screwed. We cannot turn back for you. When we get into their atmosphere I want all equipment and personnel ready to leave. No birds in the sky yet but I want anti-air turrets up. Next, some of you will get assigned to "Operation Guardian Angel". Basically, your tasked with getting civilians to a safe area. And finally, should we have to go on retreat, our first priority is civilians. At that point, I'll be sending in Scarabs to defend the civilian transports out of this planet and a few frigates with them when they enter space. Am I clear?" he asked his officers.

"Yes, sir!" they said in unison.

He looked around and knew a lot of these guys wouldn't be coming back and many of his ships wouldn't live long enough to launch their fighters. His ships took a standard formation and they awaited their impending death. He was filled with grief once more.

(1 hour before arrival in Coruscant space)

Francis was in his quarters getting his armor on and checking his weapons. Suddenly, his door slid open but he gave it no attention.

"No Covenant ships? That's weird." a voice said.

"The elites are needed on Sangheilios. Why deny a soldier the honor to die defending his home world? Besides, shouldn't you suit up?" he responded.

"I'm about to I just wanted to know your okay." the voice said.

He turned to see that it was Kelly the whole time and smirked.

He knew something must've been worrying her if she came alone. Francis turned around and faced his close ally.

"I'm fine, how about you? If you came along somethings wrong." he responded firmly.

She moved the hair from her eyes and exhaled deeply. Francis was always good at reading her facial expressions even though Spartans were taught to show no emotions. She was caught and decided to come out clean.

"I don't want to lose any of us... We all got so close that if one of us died I'd... I'd break." she said nervously.

Francis knew this and responded reassuringly. He grabbed her and held her tight and planted a kiss on her forehead. When he released her from the hug he said:

"I won't let anything happen to any of you, not as long as I live. Trust me, we'll all be fine I'll make sure we all are." Francis said.

She hugged him tightly and wept quietly. Gabby entered the room clad in her FreeLancer custom armor and at that moment, Kelly left. She went to go and look for Michael and to give Gabby and Francis their alone time.

"What was that about?" Gabby asked.

"She's worried about the group, I can't say I blame her. The whole reason I didn't bring you guys initially was out of fear of losing any of you." Francis said as he grabbed his helmet.

"I agree, this wasn't such a good idea but at least we all have each others backs, right." she said reassuringly.

"That's what I'm worried about... If one of us gets killed others will come to try and save them and they could die too..." he shot back.

Then Francis sat down on the bed and Gabby hopped onto his lap. They were contemplating as to what they should expect when they arrived. They couldn't handle losing any of their close friends and knew the others felt the same. The group formed a bond so strong nothing could penetrate it but if a part of the bond broke then the entire bond would be vulnerable. They had a lot to think about.

(Arrival at Courcant space)

"Initiate the attack." Francis said.

As he said this, all the ships carried out the plan. From his bridge he saw hundreds of Sith Empire ships get blown out of space and when the Shiva nukes launched most of the ships were destroyed but now his fighters and MACS/SMACs had to finish off the remainder to punch a hole for his ships to pass through.

"All fighters, launch. I repeat, all fighters launch." Francis exclaimed over the intercom after all his SMACs/MACs had fired.

As soon as the order was given thousands of Broadswords, Longswords, Shortswords, Ospreys, and Sabres began launching to attack the Imperial TIE fighters and bombers. Luckily, all of Francis' fighters were shielded so most of them were able to take a beating but then TIE Defenders and Interdictors came and it became a fair battle. Francis ordered all of his ships to get through the hole in the blockade they had created. Immediately, all his ships bolted off firing their Point-defense cannons and trying to get to Coruscant.

"All fighters return to your ships ASAP. You have 2 minutes, good luck." Flight Command said.

When the two minutes had passed, majority of the starships had returned but a few were still looking for their ship. Finally, when his surviving fighters had returned he passed through to Coruscant. Once down there he ordered for his ships to unload everything within an hour or two. All of Carriers then had to go to the docking bay but his Frigates joined the Republic's Defense Fleet and they prepared to go back into space.

"Armada Admiral Francis, I'm glad you made it. You brought a great amount of troops and I doubt we could do it without your men. I want you to meet Brigader General Rex. He leads all of the 501st's Arc troopers, Commandos, Super troopers, Assassin troopers, etc." General Appo said.

"You can just call me Briggs, sir." Rex said.

"Well then, Briggs, what plans do you have for this battle?" Francis asked.

"We are to deal with the Imperial Guards, Acolytes, Knights, and Honor Guards. We don't usually participate as regular infantrymen, sir." Rex said.

Francis examined Rex's top officers. Colonel Fives, Echo, Hevy, Cutup, and Droidbait. He could tell they were skilled warriors and saluted them. He saw at least a battalion worth of troops under him.

"Well well well... Look who's joining us."

"Ah, hello Miss Katan. I was looking forward to seeing you here." Francis said.

"Well, how could I say no when I knew you were gonna be here?" Bo said smirking.

Bo had brought about 1 Ardent class Frigate's worth of troops (aprox. 1,400 troops). She was very flirty when it came to Francis, although she knew of his wife she did it anyway. Bo's forces were ready to fight and some of the best in the Republic. Francis marveled at how each of her troops would spar with each other for training and how they were dedicated to being the best of the best.

He noticed that Major Jayfon of the Senate Commando/Guard was issuing orders to his men, who were going to be part of the infantrymen but his commandos would aid Rex in his special mission. His Senate Defenders, led by Captain Taggart, were going to be split with duties.

"So Francis, where's your wife? I've been dying to test my skills against her." Bo asked.

"Over there, go easy though she just had a baby." he said as she walked over to Gabby.

"Hello, are you the wife of Francis?" Bo asked.

"Yes, I am." Gabby said facing her.

"I'd like to challenge you to a sparring session." Bo asked.

Gabby accepted and the two began sparring. Bo made the first move but was countered by Gabby quickly. Gabby took a swing but Bo dodged it. It was an epic fight, Gabby landed a kick on Bo's side and she returned a kick in the knee. Before the two could continue, Francis stopped them and told them to stop fooling around. As he said this, a TIE fighter shot a missile behind them.

"Our adversaries are here, to war my brothers!" exclaimed Commander Vill.

Suddenly, thousands of Imperial Frigates and Destroyers arrived overhead and began blasting away at the Alliance's grounds. Many troops were killed and much more wounded. As the Sith Empire began deploying it Sith Warriors and Stormtroopers, the Republic let out its advanced infantry, the Republic troopers. The Republic realized that although its clone army was extremely strong, the army that was established during the Great Sith War was a far more powerful force in certain aspects but the clones were better in certain areas. The Republic trooper was equipped with Phase 0 battle armor, it was similar to that of the clone troopers but it was a little bulky but it was able to take a bit more damaged.

"Republic Commander Dyas reporting for duty, sir." he said.

"Commander, I want you and your troops to help the Senate Defenders evacuate as many civilians as possible. The UCPD (United Colonies Police Department which were the MPs) will also aid you in your mission. Armada Admiral Francis has brought enough ships for us to evacuate all civilians on this sector and we need them safe." Commander Bow said.

Republic Commander Dyas saluted and gathered his men to rescue the civilians. As this was going on the Clone troopers were dominating the Stormtroopers in battle. They outflanked the Stormtroopers and even outshot the Stormtroopers. Things were going great, the marines took advantage of their armor piercing bullets and personally slaughtered thousands of Sith troopers and Stormtroopers. Suddenly, a large amount of Covenant Battlecruisers arrived overhead which caused Francis to believe that he was receiving reinforcements but when he saw Storm Elites, Jackals, Grunts, and Hunters he knew they were in trouble. The battle group that was sent to try and hold off the Sith Empire had returned badly beaten but when they were told the Covenant Battlecruisers were the Storm's they opened fire demolishing a small amount of them before getting completely annihilated. However, the remaining ships were still pouring out ordinance and personnel to the battlefield. They didn't attack the Sith Empire because they had an alliance. This shook Francis and scared him deeply. He ordered that his detachments of Prometheans be deployed to try and hold everyone back. Imperial Knights and Sith Acolytes appeared and wiped out any enemy in their way.

"Droids, open fire!" Commander Thire yelled.

His droid forces began firing their blasters at the evil warriors but not all were killed. As they began charging forward Francis charged into them in an attempt to hold them back. He killed one but another was just about to impale him but Bo and her Shadow Mandalorians jetted into the fight and saved him and his ODSTs. They began to duel with the Knights and Acolytes but the Storm Elites started attacking them as well.

"Clone Assassins engage the Knights and Acolytes!" Rex said.

Suddenly, 10 Clone Assassins and Droid Commandos came in and quickly dispatched of the adversaries. Francis told his carriers to prep the fighters for a air assault and told Appo to have every Republic fighter to meet him at very specific coordinates. Appo obliged and continued on in the fight.

"Appo I'm going to make a run to the air field!" Francis said as he darted off.

On his way he saw AT-APs and Rhino tanks firing at the enemy landing point at about 3000-4000 meters away. SPHAs, Stun tanks, and SPACs were trying to hold off the air assault from the Sith Empire and Storm but they were getting overwhelmed. As Francis turned the corner, he came across a squad of Imperial Stormtroopers who were executing a squad of Clone troopers that had been left behind. Francis made the attempt to save them and was able to free them all and told them to get back in the fight. As they parted ways Francis once again came across the Emperor's Shadow Guards and Storm Zealots. They quickly spotted him and began attacking him.

"Kill the demon!" yelled one of the Zealots.

The Emperor's Shadow Guards engaged Francis and quickly overwhelmed him. He was facing 10 of the strongest warriors the Empire could offer and he was losing badly. Francis was quickly beat down and was about to be executed by the Storm Zealot.

"You shall die for your heresy! A thousand hells await you!" the executioner screamed as he drew back his Energy Sword and prepared to impale Francis with it.

"For the Republic!" yelled Arc Commander Hammer.

Suddenly, his platoon of Arc troopers came out and began engaging the Shadow Guard. The Arc troopers tackled down the Shadow Guard if they got too close and killed them that way. There were about 20 Arc troopers and they perfectly executed fighting styles that they had learned to take down the Shadow Guard. Francis saw this as an opportunity to kill the 3 Storm Zealots. He then regained his composure and walked over to Hammer.

"Sir, Commander Colt sent us to follow behind you just in case you got into any trouble." Hammer said.

"Well, your men are amongst some of the best I've ever seen. You lost only 5 of your own taking down those guys." Francis said.

"No we aren't sir, were just Arcs. The Alpha-Arcs are the ones who trained us and the Null-Arcs are unarguably the best soldiers in the galaxy." Hammer said as they began to march forward.

The two talked about all the other branches of clones other than the standard clone trooper and Francis was surprised to hear there were so many. Though, the Arcs were known as the best, there were variations to them. Francis asked all of the Arcs with him who was the best and they all responded with Null-Arcs. They could do it all and more but they were only loyal to Kal Skirata but he was long gone already. They still served the Republic because they knew that it was what Kal would've wanted. The Alpha-Arcs were the second best and the Clone Commandos and Arcs were third. The entire clone army looked up to these 4 groups and for good reason. Any clone who was in one of these groups were in Angel's council along with the other commanders.

"So do all of you compete with each other for the top spot?" Francis asked.

"All of us do, it's in our nature. Although, Nulls and Commandos were both trained by Skirata so they can tolerate each other, same with the Alphas and Arcs. The Arcs and Commandos can easily get along but if you put Alphas and Nulls in the same room alone with no orders or anything... Lets just say I wouldn't want to be in that system." Hammer said as Francis arrived at the airfield.

Then the Arcs were picked up by a Turbo Tank and carried off to wherever they had to go next. Francis entered the airfield and saw hundreds of thousands of star fighters and air-to-air fighters. These were just his own fighters, he proceeded to enter the command center and looked around for the Comms officer.

"Are all of our fighters ready to attack?" Francis asked.

"Yes, sir. Republic air forces in bound in 5 minutes, sir." said his Comms officer.

"Good." he responded.

Suddenly, Francis heard a loud thundering coming towards the airfield and ordered that the defenses of the airfield and the anti-air turrets be activated. He was about to give the order to engage but he saw that it was the Republic Air Force and withdrew his earlier command. He saw all of the ships landing and noticed there were a lot more Republic ships than his own now.

"Can I have a list of all Republic ships here?" he asked one of the clone pilots.

"Yes, sir." he said as he handed a tablet containing the information to him.

Reformed Military of the Republic

Republic Air Force

Star-fighter

ARC-170 Star-fighter

V-19 Torrent Fighter

V-wing Star-Fighter

Y-wing Heavy Bomber

Z-95 Star-Interceptor

Eta-class Light Interceptor

Delta-6 Star-Fighter

Delta-7 Star-Interceptor

Delta-7B Star-Interceptor

End List

"Wow, that's a good amount of ships." Francis said.

As the Republic ships started to refuel, Francis tried to learn of the Republic and their past. He indulged himself by asking various commanders of the original Grand Army. Intrigued, Francis wanted to learn everything about them.

"Sir, the Republic ships are refueled and ready for engagement." said a technician.

Francis walked over to a Sabre and climbed in. He told the command center to tell all pilots to report to their ships and prepare for launch. The Republic ships took off and so did those of the UNSC. Francis called out for the leader of the Republic ships.

"I am, sir. Clone Commander OddBall." he said.

Francis acknowledged this and continued towards the battle area. Within minutes they saw the Sith Empire's Victory-II class ships were in range of their ships.

"All bombers take the middle seat in between the fighters." he said.

After he gave that order large amounts of Banshees, Vampires, Seraphs, and TIEs launched out in an attempt to stop the Alliance air forces. The Victory-II frigates took defensive positions in front of the Star Destroyers. Francis pressed his attack on the Sith Empire/Storm. He told a fraction of his fighters to stay back and engage the enemies while another fraction follow the bombers to the Star Destroyers. Francis ordered 10 Carriers to get in the air and aid him in his attack. He shot down most of the Frigates and even a few Star Destroyers but he would have to deal with 10 more Star Destroyers and 40 Frigates now. Majority of the bombers were out of bombs and his fighters didn't have the firepower to take down a fully shielded Star Destroyer.

"Armada Admiral, this is Carrier group X-ray, we are in bound and we have MACs and Mass Drivers awaiting your order, sir." said Captain Andreas.

"Copy X-ray, concentrate all MACs on the Star Destroyers and all Mass Drivers on the Frigates." Francis ordered.

His Carriers opened fire on the Star Destroyers quickly disposing of them. Francis told any remaining bombers with bombs are to focus on the Frigates. With only a few Frigates left, Francis ordered that the Carriers return to the air field.

"Let's clean up the stragglers." Oddball said.

With the last of the Frigates defeated, Francis returned ground side. He still had Hornets, Falcons, SparrowHawks, Skyhawks, and Vultures in the air. He met up with a couple of his ODSTs and clone troopers and they pushed forward. They had about 10 AT-TEs and 15 Cobras with them and several Warthogs. They were mopping up the rest of the invasion forces on Coruscant.

Scarabs walked the group and engaged the AT-ATs easily. The main cannon on the Scarabs was enough to take down the AT-ATs. Francis met up with General Appo and his mechanized armor unit. SPHAs, SPACs, AT-OTs, AT-TEs, AT-APs, AT-XTs, AT-RTs, Turbo tanks, and Saber tanks. His mechanized unit was massive and it was just going about destroying any Sith Empire soldier.

With Coruscant safe, they ventured to space to combat the massive Sith Empire fleet. When they arrived there, Erebos and his Super Star Destroyer, 5 Subjugator class Battleships (Malevolence), 30 Chancellor class Star Destroyers, 50 Venator class Star Destroyers, 100 Acclamator Assault ships, and 300 Arquitens class Cruisers were already there. A total of 486 in total under Erebos. To Francis' surprise this was just a tiny fraction to the full combined might of the Republic navy which was numbered in the millions.

"You should've seen his fleet before the Emperor wiped most of it out." Bo said.

"This is what's left? Must've had thousands, huh." Francis responded.

"Hundreds of thousands actually, while the Rebels tried to hold back the Empire, Erebos engaged them on every battlefield, every planet, every sector, and every system in the galaxy. Little by little his troops and ships were defeated leaving only his best troops. They've seen things most of us don't, thanks to them. They can each take on a Rancor beast. They aren't like regular clones, their dead on the inside. Amongst the tens of millions originally under him, the one thing they all had was a bond with each other. Can you imagine watching tens of millions of your friends die?" Novus said.

"Wow, but there are only like 500,000 of them now." Francis said.

"They aren't dead on the inside, their scarred. Their numb to everything now except each other. They might be the strongest warriors ever. Even the Nulls can't go through the things they went through. Each of them is deeply pained and saw a close friend that they grew up with die." Appo said.

"Things that don't kill us can only make us stronger, our strifes and downfalls will only lead to our greatness. We cannot ever be exterminated because though the body dies, the spirit lives forever. We aren't dead on the inside, just battle hardened. We have dark colored armor because only in the darkness can true intentions and hope be found." Erebos said.

"What kind of troops do you have?" Francis asked.

"Shadow troopers, Shadow Elite troopers, CovertOps troopers, NightOps troopers, StealthOps troopers, BlackOps troopers, SpecOps troopers, Shadow Nulls, Shadow Alpha Arcs, Shadow Arcs, Shadow Commandos, Stealth Commandos, NightOps Commandos, Shadow Airborne troopers, Shadow Assassins, Shadow ARFs, Shadow Scouts, Shade troopers, Shadow Jet troopers, Terror troopers, Shadow Urban Combat troopers, Shadow Blaze troopers, and Blackhole Galactic Marines." Erebos said.

"Also, all my men have customized dark sabers, each has a distinct hilt and blade pattern to them. All are black colored blades though. Also they each have vibroswords." he added.

"Where did you find these guys?" Francis asked.

"Hiding or Kamino." he responded.

"Any droids?" Francis asked.

"Yes, Destroyer, Crab, Dwarf Spider, Commando, Assassin, and Super Battle Droids. All painted pitch black any other colors on them is red, gray, silver, or steel."Erebos said.

"Only in your darkness and downfalls can hope become attainable, and only through hope can true peace be found. The motto of my legion. Grand Master Yoda taught it to me." Erebos added.

"So why'd you pick Burning Shadow Legion?" Francis asked.

"Shadows form when you are in darkness and stand near a light. Jango Fett told me that no matter how evil you are, no matter what you did, when you stand in darkness there is always a light somewhere and that when you stand next to that light all your evils are released from you and thats why you cast your pitch black silhouette because when you turn to the light your shadow is what brings you to hope. I chose burning not as in fire of heat and pain but as in flame of hardship and struggle. When you put struggle/hardship with good or bad deeds you get hope. I chose Burning Shadow because there is a yearning in everyone to do good."Erebos said to the group.

"My daughter's name is Hope." Francis said.

"She is destined to greatness then, she will get knocked down plenty of times but stand up every time. She's going to be strong and brave, she's going to bring hope when there is none." he added.

Francis stared at Erebos for a while, he couldn't see his face because he had his helmet on but Francis knew he was deep in thought about how he lost so many of his close friends. Francis saw this and said:

"Life is like school, there are always bullies and everyday we get beat-up. Then one day the beatings stop, the bullies don't leave, we just learn to tolerate them. You can't fight them back because even if you do beat them you become a bully, but if you strive for a better life eventually it'll all stop. Time heals all wounds, you can rush it and fight it but all your doing is creating a scab. Don't dwell on the pain, rather focus on how much stronger your getting from it."

"That was inspirational, where did you hear it?" Erebos asked.

"My mother when I was being bullied at the Academy." Francis responded.

"Your mother sounds like a very brilliant woman." Erebos said.

"She is, she's the head of our intelligence." Francis said proudly.

Francis then received a message from Gabby saying that their forces were packed up and ready to return home. Francis then said goodbye to Erebos and exited his flagship. Once he landed on Coruscant, Bo and Novus returned to their fleet which was about to depart and Appo went to his fleet. Francis' fleet was waiting on him and were awaiting orders to leave. Once on board, Francis told his ships to return home. He returned to his quarters and opted to rest until the trip home.

"So, where were you?" Gabby asked as she entered the room.

"I took some of our ships to space to try and beat back the Sith Empire/Storm fleet but when we got up there Erebos was already engaging them with his ships. So we helped him finish up and Bo, Novus, Appo, and I went to Erebos' capital ship. We talked about him and his troops, how they got their name, and a little bit of their story. It was heartbreaking to hear." Francis said.

"Oh, well what's bothering you now then?" she asked.

"We ended the Human-Covenant War, the Covenant Civil War, and we were so close to ending the Sangheili Civil War... But instead we created a whole new enemy and had our enemies join forces. I'm just wondering if by the time Hope is old enough, if she would have to fight the battles we couldn't finish..." Francis said.

"You know she'll have to, but I know she can do it. I believe that our little girl will end all wars but we have to shorten them for her by fighting in them." Gabby responded.

The couple sat in the room wondering when it all would end or if they'd still even be around. They thought of their friends and family, all the battles they fought in, the people they lost, and how Hope would handle things. She was only 5 years old but everywhere she went a Spartan-IV detachment would be with her.

Once they returned to Earth, Francis had to deal with a press conference.

"What do you think of our military forces?" asked a reporter.

"Our military is stronger than ever. If we had these ships during the Human-Covenant War we would've won a lot faster." Francis responded.

"The UEFD has received no new equipment, the have little to no armor which could save so many lives in combat. What do you intend to do about that?" another reporter asked.

"Once we are done here I will personally see to it that the UEFD receives an adequate amount of armor." Francis said.

When he returned to his office, he saw that the UEFD had no armor at all and that the UNAD were changing their HellJumpers into Praetorians. They were given any era of EVA armor they wanted and the HellJumpers were given to the UNSC. Michael became a Praetorian and continued to lead the UNAD Special Forces. The UNSC ordered hundreds of thousands of suit of ODST armor. Each Marine was given ODST armor. They had the Spirit Of Fire ODST armor, Delta Halo ear ODST armor, Ark era ODST armor, Reach era ODST armor, Ark era Spartan ODST armor, Reach era Spartan ODST armor, Requiem and Reach era Air Assault armor, Reach era Spartan JFO armor, Reach era Spartan Pilot armor, Reach era Spartan Gungir armor, requiem era Spartan Recruit armor, Requiem era Spartan Orbital armor, Requiem era Spartan Commando armor, and Requiem era Spartan Rogue armor.

All UNSC Marines gave up their regular armor to the UEFD and received ODST armor. The HellJumpers and whatever other variant of Super-soldier that was part of the UNSC and under Francis had the option to choose which ever suit they wanted. Francis did this because the UNSC spends the most time in so space so it became necessary to give his troops vacuum suits in case an airlock should open or something. Every UNSC Marine now had ODST armor of any era but only those who were trained to be ODSTs could be dropped into battlefields. It was a very expensive order. In total in cost the UNSC 30 billion dollars in debt. ONI had also bought every set of Recon armor from every era. They could have the Ark era, the Requiem era, Reach era, or even the ODST variant Recon armor. All other suits were spread out amongst other defense forces.

When Francis arrived home, he saw Gabby wearing her custom Recon armor. Her old armor set was in a box and she was checking for any upgrades she had. Francis still kept his current battle suit but also had his old suits on display.

"We have a month of relaxation, what do you want to do?" Francis asked Gabby and Hope who was wearing Gabby's old Mark VI helmet.

"I wanna go on daddy's ship." Hope said happily.

"Which one sweetie?" Gabby asked.

"The Infinity-class Ultra Super Heavy Capital SuperCarrier, daddy's flagship." Hope said.

"Wow, where did you learn that from?" Francis said hugging her.

"From grandma, she said that when I saw that ship that it meant you and mommy were home. So I went on the computer to find out everything about it. Like the UNSC Infinity has 2 SMACs, 3 MACs, 10 Mass Drivers located around the ship for ship-to-ship combat, the Cobra tanks have lock down stations in place of the regular point defense turrets, Gauss Cannons also, and even Rail-gun turrets. A Rail-gun turret is an automated turret with 4 Rail-guns on reach side and Gauss cannons are also put in place of point defense turrets. The only non-Gauss technology on the UNSC Infinity is the Shiva-class Nuclear bombs, Archer pods, and Oversized-Archer pods. The UNSC Infinity also have shielding of a CSO-class SuperCarrier but is roughly the size of a CAS-Assault Carrier. Also very recently, the UNSC troopers under Armada Admiral Francis have outfitted its regular troops with ODST armor and its Special Forces with Orbital variants designed for Spartans. The troops under Armada Admiral Francis have been nicknamed the "Orbitals" due to all of their body armor being able to be dropped through SOIEVs or HEVs." Hope said.

Francis' and Gabby's jaws dropped knowing that their daughter knew almost as much as them about Francis' flagship. So Francis got on the phone and told Infinity's crew he wanted an honor guard ceremony because his family was about to come on board. His XO obliged and prepared a Honor Guard team of 100 men for tomorrow. Hope smiled and hugged her father and mother then ran up to her room. Francis called her back down and began asking her questions.

"What is Gauss technology, sweetie?" Francis asked his 5 year old daughter.

"Gauss technology uses Asynchronous linear-induction motor for its regular Gauss cannon and is a very strong cannon. There are differs kinds of Gauss' like the Mass Driver, MAC, and SMAC. Each one shoots fast enough to create massive damage. The MACs all have a long barrel so that the velocity of the ammo round increase and makes it stronger." Hope responded.

"And how many ships does daddy have in his current fleet?" Gabby asked.

"Thirty-one thousand six hundred sixty one." Hope said.

"Wow... You really know a lot. Why don't you go pick some clothes for you to wear tomorrow when we go on the Infinity, okay?" Francis said.

"Okay daddy." Hope said as she ran up to her room.

"That girl is a genius. She possibly has a better understanding of Gauss than most of my troops. The first time I heard about Gauss it took me a year to grasp some of its concept. That little girl had 3 months and she completely understands it." Francis said.

"I know, I didn't even know you had 31,661 ships in your current fleet. I thought it was like all the ships." Gabby said.

"Mom's genes really are the dominant ones, huh." Francis said.

The next morning, Francis and Gabby took Hope to the UNSC base. Francis wore his regular UNSC choker whites and Gabby wore the same. Hope wore a black UNSC short with pink trims and on the back it had the UNSC creed. She wore regular jeans and her everyday sneakers. As the family stepped into the airfield, Francis signed in and called for a Pelican. When it arrived, hope remarked:

"Wow, I've never seen a D79H-TC Gunship before, I've seen all the D77s but never this newer version. Is it true it has a Spartan Laser mounted on it and that it actually has thrust?" asked Hope to the pilot.

"Yeah, haha did your daddy tell you that?" the pilot asked.

"Nope, I learnt it myself." Hope said as she jumped on board.

"Wow sir, I can't even get my son to say Sangheili and yours knows all the firepower on a Pelican..." he said admiring the child.

"If you think that's good, ask her about Infinity, she'll shock you." Francis responded and he, Gabby, and the pilot climbed on board.

"Hey kid, how'd you like to be my co-pilot for today? My co-pilot called in sick and I need someone on radar." the pilot asked.

"Can I?" Hope asked turning to her father.

"It's his ship, its up to him." he said as he smiled.

As Hope got excited and entered the co-pilot seat, the pilot introduced himself to Francis and Gabby. His call sign was Maverick and he was a Captain. He was one of the best pilots in Francis' fleet.

"So kid, what's your name?" Maverick asked.

"My name is Hope." she said.

"I'm Jacob but my call sign is Maverick, but you know what I'll let you call me Mav." he said.

"Okay, what's your rank?" Hope asked.

"I'm a captain, how about you?" he said as he prepped the engines.

"I don't have one, thrusters are at 100% and engines are ready to for atmospheric exit, Mav." Hope said.

"Thank you, and you know what a smart girl like you should get a rank, how does Sarge sound?" Mav asked her.

"Wow, a NCO?! Okay!" she said happily as Mav took the ship towards space.

"Here Hope, you may want some gum if its your first time leaving atmosphere." Maverick said while handing her some bubble gum and her Sergeant insignia.

"Thank you, sir." she said as she started chewing on the bubble gum and put her rank on her shirt.

The rest of the trip, Maverick and Hope talked about what military life was like and how long Maverick had been in the military. Francis and Gabby couldn't help but smile while they watched their daughter and a UNSC pilot captain talk. Finally, Hope asked another question.

"Can I wear your helmet?" she asked.

"You mean my ODST helmet? Sure why not. Also tell your daddy 3 minutes until we get to the Infinity." Maverick said handing it to her.

"Yes, sir." she said pulling the helmet on and walking to the troop bay.

Once she entered the troop bay, she stood at attention wearing the ODST helmet and showing off her Sergeant rank and said:

"3 minutes until arrival at the UNSC Infinity, sir."

Francis and Gabby smiled and laughed, Gabby took a picture with her cellphone and shared it with her friends and family. They said:

"Thank you, Sergeant. You are dismissed." they said as they saluted her. She saluted back and returned to the cockpit.

When they arrived, Hope returned Mavericks helmet and the rank. Maverick told her to keep the rank and the helmet. She looked down at the helmet again, it was a basic ODST helmet with a couple scratches here and there and the words Maverick on the left side, on the right was 50 white lines which indicated 50 kills. She hugged him and the hatch door opened. As the family walked off, the Honor Guards conducted their regular ceremonial duties. They saluted with their rifles and would go back to port arms when the family passed them. When they reached the end, Francis' XO stood saluting.

"UNSC Infinity standing by for special purposes, sir." he said.

"Very good, XO. Proceed with daily activities." Francis replied.

"Aye aye, sir." he responded.

As the family left, he dismissed the honor guards and caught up with the family.

"Hi little girl, where did you get that helmet?" he asked.

"From Captain Maverick, he said I could have it and even gave me this Sergeant rank." said Hope.

"Wow, so what do you want to be when you grow up Sarge?" he asked.

"I want to be just like daddy but better." Hope responded.

"Haha, I bet you can be too. Your daddy gets lazy with paperwork sometimes." he said.

"Don't worry sweetie, that's why I have an XO." Francis aid laughing.

The whole tour Hope was astounded to see the actual ship. She loved it so much and had a note pad and pencil for everything she couldn't quite understand. Francis just watched in awe as his daughter would enter any work center and absorb the knowledge so easily. Gabby was amazed at their daughter too. At the end of the tour, Francis had to carry Hope because on their walk back she had fallen asleep. She had seen the Gauss technology and was fascinated beyond measure. Maverick was again their pilot and he took them back to the base. Before Maverick took off again though, Hope said goodbye to him and saluted and Maverick returned it.

When they arrived home, she ran up to her room and knocked out grasping onto the ODST helmet as if it was the Index and wouldn't let it go. Francis and Gabby were pretty exhausted too so they also fell asleep.


	3. How the Other Half Lives

A Loving Hope Chronicles

The InterDimensional War

How the Other Half Lives

The next morning Gabby and Hope had gone off to her grandmothers house to stay for the day, Gabby then would've had to go and talk to the Top Brass of the UNSC about being reinstated as a FreeLancer and as Commodore in ONI. Francis decided to take a day to try and find any Republic officer he could talk to. He found out that Erebos was actually in his galaxy and that they would arrive at Earth in an hour. He called his Comms officer and told him that he was inviting Erebos to his home. Erebos agreed and said he'd be there in half an hour. Francis took this time to shower and eat breakfast. When Erebos arrived, he was still wearing his clone armor and somewhat intimidated Francis at first. He asked who else came and he saw Bo and Novus also had came and even Commander Bly and Commander Dyas.

"So, this is the life of a leader of a free galaxy, huh?" Bo remarked.

"Haha, yes. My daughter went over to her grandmothers home and Gabby has to get reinstated." Francis said.

The soldiers removed their helmets and placed them on the coffee table. He asked how their war was going and asked if they would need any reinforcements.

"We saw your Home Fleet and I have to say, it was the largest battle group I've ever seen. Millions of ships guarding just one planet, it was magnificent." Erebos said.

"Yeah, we needed it just in case of another outbreak of war." Francis said.

"Really, well I'd like to say if Angel went to war against you I don't think we'd attack Earth first." Bly said.

The group started to converse amongst itself about the war and possible tactics they could consider. They thought of new defensive positions and new offensive strategies. They talked about what they would do should one side of the alliance fall. They discussed the possibility of mixing squads and ordinance.

"Well, I think if we would wish to discuss any further we might as well get a council formed." said Bo.

"I agree, we need to express our ideas and hear other's opinion. Erebos gather the Republic's high ranking officials." Francis said.

As Erebos went to do that, Francis decided to do the same. He decided to not include the Top Brass and any politicians. They set a date for the June 13, 2555. Within three days the council would be formed. The first official war council for the Alliance.

-June 13, 2555-

Angel and all of his selected officers arrived at Earth. The Covenant Separatists' representatives from each species also came. Francis, Gabby, John, Cortana, Jake, Miranda, Michael, Kelly, Admiral Cutter, Commander Sarah Palmer, and Fleet Admiral Harper were the only human representatives along with Doctor Halsey.

The Sangheili sent Thel Vadam, Xytan jar Wattinr, Ado Fulsam, Ripa Barutam, N'tho S'roam, Thel Wamik, Fal Moram, R'tas Vadum, Usze Taham, Voro nar Matakr, Thon Konar, and Sesa Refum.

The Prometheans sent the Librarian and the top 11 warriors she was able to revert to organic and Jirilhalnae the Chieftain of the Jirilhalnae, Romulus and his top 11 War-chieftains, the Mgalekgolo sent Mgalekgolo Commander, Waruna Nosa Hurru and his new pair and 5 other pairs, the Skirmishers sent Ultra Champion, Zhar and his 11 best Champions, the Kig-Yar sent their Zealot, Jak and 11 his best Majors, the Yanme'e sent their king Se'nert and his 11 top Leaders, the Unggoy sent their Deacon Ultra, Yayap and 11 other Ultras and the Huragok sent the Huragok a Captain, Vergil and 11 of the smartest Huragok.

Angel brought his entire command staff for almost every division. About 50-60 people in total. The Top Brass and the President of the UEG found out and tried to break into the building bringing several Marines with them in an attempt to arrest Francis. The Marine squad arrived outside the building complex and ordered that Francis turn himself in. He walked outside and saw that the marines who tried to arrest him were totally against him. There were about 50 of them and the president ordered the marines to kill him. As they were about to fire however, NMPD officers that came with Dr. Halsey attacked the Marines. The marines were getting beaten back and Francis ordered that Bravo squad (ODSTs) be dropped in to assess the situation. Within seconds they dropped in and easily killed off the marines with the help of NMPD. The Top Brass deployed their Spartan-IV bodyguards but Francis and his Promethean warriors quickly dispatched of them. Francis approached the Top Brass, all of which he outranked, and relieved them of their duties. His NMPD officers escorted them out and Francis walked over to the president.

"You are relieved too." Francis said.

"I'm the president, I have rights!" he yelled.

"Well, I was hoping you'd say that. You have committed treason by supplying the Storm with necessary supplies, same with the Top Brass. In war times, the highest ranking officer acts as a judge for war crimes. Also attempting to murder me, that's another treason." he said as he grabbed his pistol.

"I am the power of the UEG! No..." was all he said before being killed by Francis.

"Treason against the UNSC, no reconciliation." Francis said.

The NMPD officers carried the former president's body away and the UNAD were called in. They had no choice but to attack Francis and his UNSC troops. They called in the Praetorians to deal with the Titans and regular army troops to hold back the ODSTs. The UNAD never stood a chance and thousands of them were killed, the Praetorians were quickly dealt with by Francis and his newly commissioned Titan-Is. They were as strong Spartan-IVs and better armored, they killed the squad of Praetorians that were sent to kill Francis. The UNAD called in for an air strike on the building, but Francis' Ospreys shot them down. He called for a Pelican to take him to UNAD HQ.

"Sir, are we attacking our own guys?" Maverick asked.

"The Top Brass and president were aiding the Storm, so I executed the president and put the former Top Brass under arrest." Francis said climbing on board the Pelican with his Promethean and Titan escort.

"Well, this ought to be interesting. Where to boss?" Maverick asked.

"UNAD HQ." Francis replied.

As they flew off to UNAD HQ, a couple of the UNAD's Hornets started hunting them. Francis told Maverick to open the hatch doors and when he did, two Titans jumped out and hijacked the Hornets. They continued to the UNAD HQ unharmed. When they arrived, Francis and his personal guards stepped off and walked into their HQ. Many guards tried to restrain the attackers but to no avail. The UNAD's highest ranking members were trapped inside the conference room but they were with 50 Praetorians. Francis kicked the door in and told the UNAD officers that the president was helping the Storm and that by continuing to fight back would be terrorism and that Francis would deal with them as such. The Praetorians prepared to attack but the UNAD officers told them to stand down and gave word for all UNAD forces that were engaging the UNSC to stand down.

"Good choice, as you were." Francis said as he left.

When he returned to the building thousands of bodies of UNAD soldiers could be seen and even some ODSTs. No one could stop Francis now, he had gained the sovereignty of the UEG. The entire Earth was his for a moment but he quickly told the people to elect a new president. He continued on with their meeting and quickly finished. They had everything figured out by the end of the meeting. As all the representatives returned to their next duties, Jake expressed his discern for the attack on the UNAD.

"You killed so many..." Jake started.

"It was necessary, if it was the UNSC that betrayed I would've done the same. You cannot put personal feelings and ideas with that of your military commander self. I'm sorry if you don't like it but that's how it is sometimes." Francis said.

The Kaminoans cloned the restored organic Promethean forces by 3, then they cloned them by 3 again because they would be reverted back into the Promethean machines once again as the primary Flood defense. The template for the Prometheans was quickly destroyed. The Librarian then handed full military control of the Promethean Warriors over to Francis, the inorganic ones were to still remain under control of the Librarian and were only to be mass deployed during a Flood outbreak. Francis now had an army of Promethean Warriors, the best known warriors ever in the galaxy, under him. With the Titans, Spartans, Praetorians, Prometheans, and FreeLancers under him he was basically unstoppable to anyone. Even if the Covenant were to turn on him

again the amount of Prometheans that he had under him would be enough to hold the entire Covenant military back, same with his UEGDF (United Earth Governments Defensive Forces). He was stronger than the Covenant. As for the Republic, he wasn't to sure exactly how powerful they were, he thought that Erebos and his men would be the biggest challenge of all.

"Francis, you know what you did was wrong." Gabby said to him.

"Yes, but I had to show that we will confront those who try to deceive us. It sent the right message at least." he responded.

"I know." Gabby responded.

Francis and Gabby would once again contemplate as to what they would do to keep the Alliance and all her colonies safe. They wanted to make it as safe as possible for Hope and for the next generation. The next morning, Francis went to his ship and sat in his quarters. Suddenly, he heard his door slide open, it was Erebos.

"What are you doing here?" Erebos asked.

"I'm not used to sleeping away from the ship." Francis responded.

"Oh." Erebos said.

"Last time we spoke, you mentioned a Rebel army? What is it?" Francis asked.

"They're the first ones to rise up against the Empire, when the Emperor had us kill our Jedi leaders they rose to defy the Emperor and all those who'd follow them. They aren't directly allied with us but we don't attack each other. I could take you to their base of operations, if you want." Erebos said.

"Take me." Francis replied.

The next morning, Francis ordered back all of his flagship's crew, and about 500 other ships. He took 170 Mako class Ultra Super Heavy Corvettes, 150 Remembrance class Ultra Super Heavy Frigates, 100 Lancer class Ultra Super Heavy Destroyers, 50 Ragnarok class Ultra Super Heavy Dreadnoughts, 25 Thermopylae class Ultra Super Heavy Cruisers, 4 Behemoth class Ultra Super Heavy Carriers, and 1 Infinity class Ultra Super Heavy Capital SuperCarrier.

Erebos brought 486 ships. 1 Super Star Destroyer, 5 Subjugator class Battleships (Malevolence), 30 Chancellor class Star Destroyers, 50 Venator class Star Destroyers, 100 Acclamator Assault ships, and 300 Arquitens class Cruisers.

They left early in the morning and arrived at Yavin IV in a couple hours. Francis ordered that a squad of ODSTs be deployed with him to the surface of the planet via Pelican. Erebos brought his iconic Shadow troopers with him to the surface. Once they reached the surface, they saw thousands of people working on equipment and getting defensive positions ready.

"General Erebos, what brings you here?" asked General Sykes.

"I brought one of our allies with me here to see what kind of military you all have." he responded.

"Well, perhaps we can also discuss a alliance as well, we are on the same side anyways." Sykes said.

"Of course, we'd love to discuss an alliance." Francis said.

As Sykes showed the kinds of troops that were left, Francis noticed they all wore the exact same armor. Sykes said it was the armor of a standard fleet trooper. He then pointed out that veteran troopers had a SpecForces battle-suit which was worn for majority of their battles and that their current uniform was for relaxing and working. He also noted that his most advanced troops, SpecForces Marines, wore a different variant of Rebel armor and that they were the best of the best soldiers in the Rebellion.

"So why didn't the Rebels and Clones merge together a long time ago?" Francis asked.

"We were separated from each other very early on, the Empire knew that if we were together then we would be too much for them to handle." Sykes said.

"Well, let us discuss a alliance now then." Erebos said.

After a long meeting, they finally came to an agreement that they would be a part of the Alliance. Just as that was finished, a Sith Empire and Storm fleet popped out from slip space and began assaulting the Alliance fleet overhead.

"Fleet Admiral Typho, this is General Sykes. Engage the enemy fleet, send down troops if necessary." Sykes said.

"Copy." Typho said.

The Rebel fleet consisted of 10 MC80 Star Destroyers, 25 Venator class Star Destroyers, 50 Providence class Star Destroyers, 100 Munificent class Star Frigates, 350 Acclamator-II class Assault ships, 750 Assault Frigates Mk. II, 2,000 GR-75 Medium Transports and CR90 Corvettes, and 5,000 Consular class Cruisers and Arquitens class Cruisers. An astounding total of 8,285 ships in total under the Rebels. They went to engage the Sith Empire's fleet of about 100 Imperial-II class Star Destroyers. Both Erebos and Francis told their fleets to record the battle but not to partake in the fights.

The battle was magnificent, the Sith Empire and the Storm tried to turn away from the Rebel ships but weren't fast enough. The Rebels quickly disabled the last few ships and began to scrap them for parts. Rebel Infiltrators were deployed to each ship and were tasked to clear out the entire ship. The Rebels were just as powerful as the Republic troopers and much more suited for infantry than the Clones. The Rebels scrambled X-wings and A-wings in an attempt to kill off any escape pods, they were ruthless.

After the fight, Erebos and Francis returned to their respective capital ships and headed back to Earth. When they arrived, Gabby and Hope were waiting to pick up Francis and Erebos. Erebos said that he'd prefer to stay on his ship because at any given moment the enemy could attack and he wanted to be ready.

The Rebellion was planning on sending a battle-group to Earth. It consisted of 100 Consular class Cruisers, 100 Arquitens class Cruisers, 100 CR90 Corvettes, and 100 GR-75 Medium Transports. The flagship was 1 MC80 Star Destroyer. As the fleet departed, Fleet Admiral Typho was concerned with taking out so many ships from the fleet. General Sykes urged him to take 9 Munificent class Star Frigates also which he grudgingly accepted. When they arrived in Earth space, they saw millions of UNSC ships orbiting and patrolling the area. Francis was quickly alerted that the Rebels had arrived at Earth. He told Erebos that he wouldn't be able to make it and that Fleet Admiral Typho was under his care.

"What was that all about?" asked Gabby.

"Our new allies have arrived. I wasn't expecting them to visit so soon." Francis responded.

"Oh, by the way Cortana called, she said that the group is getting together to go to Reach for the rest of our relaxation period. She was wondering if you'd be joining us?" Gabby asked hoping he'd say yes.

"Oh course I am, I wouldn't miss it for anything." Francis replied.

Gabby smiled at this and the two continued going about their duties around the house. Hope was still asleep and Francis was exhausted by the end of his chores.

Erebos and Appo were Angel's best leaders under him. Appo served as Angel's Ops officer, planning out the details to the mission. Erebos was the Executive officer, he kept order and was feared throughout the army, Angel was the Commanding officer, he made all the final decisions. Under Appo were the 501st Legion and its SpecForces Brigade. Under Erebos was basically any trooper with black armor. Angel quickly noticed that he had no army of his own. He went to Kamino and requested that he receive the next 250,000-300,000 troopers created. He also requested that they be trained in every way possible. They would be given special armor as well.

They received a regular helmet with an arc command antenna, and visor. Their body armor had a kama and pauldron. Their body armor also had a back antenna for long range missions, a right shoulder antenna, and also had a sash of shotgun rounds on their torso, on the left shoulder, around the wrist, and also around the right leg. Their kama's featured two holsters for blaster pistols and their pauldron had a sheath for a knife. They were all given white light sabers and a vibroswords sword on their backs underneath the jet pack. They were also equipped with wrist shockers and wrist blasters on both sides. They had an extra combat knife sheath on their right leg inboard side. They were nicknamed VanGuards. They were extremely skilled in every weapon on the field and even rivaled Erebos' men.

They were some of the best in the military of the Republic, they were also extremely intelligent and were extremely fit. They could resist the harshest interrogation methods thought of. Their armor color was silver and gray with a blue visor.

"Angel asked for 300,000 of them but we had to make 1,000,000 units and only 300,000 remained at the required health to go through the entire training course. The others were distributed to other commanders. The VanGuards are very independent and free thinking yet also very loyal but have a excellent amount of common sense. Each one has killed 10 cloned version of a Sith Acolyte in a 10 on 1 fight as well." Lama Su regarding the VanGuards.

"Stop her!"

"The Jedi prisoner has escaped!"

"All clones, shoot to kill. I repeat shoot to kill."

"Belay that order, Commander."

"Set blasters to stun. I want her alive!"

Commander Fox awoke to his disturbing dream of the past. It was a dream that was so lively, that he could've sworn just happened yesterday. The trial of Ahsoka Tano. A great and skilled Jedi that was expelled years ago for crimes she didn't commit. When her innocence was proven, she was asked to rejoin the Jedi Order once again however, she declined and walked away. Her master, Darth Vader, originally Anakin Skywalker begged her to stay but even Ahsoka's closest friend and father figure couldn't make her stay because her mind was made up and she was gone.

Fox realized that since she had not been a Jedi she was not killed by the clones. He ran out of his quarters on Courcant and went to the abandoned Jedi Temple. He checked the archives of all Jedi.

Jedi Masters

Jedi Knights

Jedi Padawans

Jedi Younglings

Fox accessed the Padawan section and scrolled down to Ahsoka Tano. Normally, when a Jedi is expelled from the Order and killed then the archive would show it as dual status, meaning that it would say Expelled, Deceased. But when he read Ahsoka's, it showed her as only "Declined" because she declined to join again. What this meant to Fox was that somewhere out in the galaxy, Ahsoka could still be out there.

He gathered enough his Shock Troopers to fill 1 Venator-class Star Destroyer and 2 Acclamator-class Assault Ships and went off searching the galaxy. He looked every where but he just couldn't find her. He checked all the data on each planet but none mentioned Ahsoka Tano. Finally, Fox and his men checked the Death Star prison records.

Prisoners

Force Users

Ahsoka Tano

\Subject imprisoned for 1 week/

-Highly dangerous-

"We found her, men. Lock and load." Fox said to his troops.

His troops prepped the Destroyer Droids, Crab Droids, Dwarf Spider Droids, Commando Droids, Assassin Droids, and the Super Battle Droids. All of his men got their armor on and readied their rifles. His Riot Guards would be the first line since they had shields. His ships opened fire on the Death Star quickly disabling its main cannon and defenses. They sent out TIE Fighters but they were quickly dispatched. A Sith Empire fleet returned to the Death Star and outnumbered Fox's forces. Before any of the enemy ships could fire, a Rebel fleet came through and engaged the Sith Empire.

"This is Admiral Juno Eclipse of the Rebel Alliance. What are you doing with only 3 ships and attacking the Death Star?" she asked.

"This is Commander Fox of the Republic Army, we need you to cover us while we attack the Death Star. I give you command of my ships after we enter the Death Star." Commander Fox said.

As Fox and his troops entered the Death Star, they encountered extremely heavy resistance from the Stormtroopers. The Stormtroopers were not as well trained as the Clones but they were still a deadly foe. Fox jumped out from behind his Riot Guards and fired his rotary cannon at the Stormtroopers. When the last of the Stormtroopers in the prison area were killed, they started looking for Ahsoka Tano. She was in cellblock B. Once Fox and his Shock troopers got there, they opened the door and secured her.

"Fox? What are you doing here?" asked Ahsoka.

"Saving you, now come on we got to leave now." Fox responded as he threw her his blaster pistols.

They made their escape and got into the Gunships. His Droids were the last ones on and as soon as they were, they jolted out of there, he originally had 50 Gunships full of troops but only had 30 when they left. Ahsoka was still confused as to what was going on. Once onboard Fox's flagship, they and the Rebel fleet jumped to Rebel controlled space.

"Fox, what's going on? Where are we going?" Ahsoka asked.

"The Fett clones rebelled against the Empire a few years ago and we've setup alliances with other factions from other universes. There isn't much time to explain but long story short, were good guys again." Fox said.

"What was that mission for? What did you do?" Admiral Eclipse asked.

"We rescued a Jedi." Fox responded.

Ahsoka didn't know what to do, or what to think. When they arrived at Courcant, she questioned Fox as to what was going on as they walked down the hallways of his ship. When Fox had finished asking all the questions she had for him, they exited the ship. The first thing Fox saw was an angered Brigader General.

"Sir, I underwent a mission to save Ahsoka Tano." Fox said.

"I see that, Commander. You only took 3 ships against the Death Star, your luckily I asked Admiral Eclipse to go to your aid, otherwise you'd still be in that prison or dead." Rex said.

"Rex! It's you! I've missed you, buddy!" Ahsoka said as she hugged him.

"Where's Anakin? I heard he survived Darth Vader but was badly hurt. Did he join up with you guys?" she added.

"Ahsoka, Darth Vader..." Rex said but there was a long pause.

"Is what, Rex?" she said.

"Vader is Anakin... I'm so sorry." Rex said.

Ahsoka was shocked. She couldn't believe what she was hearing from Rex. She took a minute to regain her composure. So many thoughts were racing through her head until finally she had the courage to ask:

"Where is he now?" Ahsoka asked.

"He died, Erebos sent his army to assassinate the Emperor but when they got there, Vader had thrown him over, he was on our side. However, the Emperor had badly wounded him and he died moments later. He was truly the Chosen One, but he's buried in the Jedi Temple." Rex said as they entered another Gunship that took them to the Temple.

At the Temple was Clone Field Marshal Angel. He and his 300,000 Clone Vanguards were in formation awaiting Ahsoka. Appo's 501st Legion were also in formation along with Bly's 327th Star Corps, Rex's 501st SpecOps, and Admiral Eclipse's Rebel forces. When Ahsoka stepped off the Gunship, all the soldiers saluted, Rex and Fox moved in front of their troops while Angel walked up in front of Ahsoka and presented her with her light sabers. She accepted them and Angel declared her Supreme General of all of his forces and even the Rebels. She accepted and quickly gave her first order.

"Rebuild the Jedi Temple."

She would then travel the galaxy looking for other force sensitive individuals. Within weeks, she had built back up the Republic and led numerous battles against the Sith Empire. She had found 50 total force sensitive individuals and had been training them in the ways of the force. Due to her very demanding training, they were all knighted within 2-3 months after their initial recruiting into the order. Tano was quite impressed with their quality, they were as good as her before she denied reinstatement into the Order. She held the title of Master Tano until Grand Master Yoda was found and brought to the restored Jedi Temple. He furthered the training of the Jedi and increased their knowledge of the force.

"Ma'am, General Erebos is requesting an audience with you." Brigader Appo said.

"Thank you, Brigader. I'll be there in a few minutes." Ahsoka said.

When Ahsoka arrived at the meeting room, she saw Angel, Erebos, Rex, Appo, Bly, and Bacara, and Cody. She was wondering what the meeting could've been for until she realized it was probably a war meeting. She also saw Bo Katan, Novus, Senate Commando Commander Jayfon, and Republic Commander Dyas. Some of the Republic's highest ranking officials were present and wanted to inform Ahsoka of Francis and his troops.

"Why was I not told this before?" she said turning to them.

"It was decided that you be told when Francis chooses he is ready to meet you, he was on vacation for a while but now he can meet with you." Erebos said.

"Fine, where is he?" Ahsoka asked.

"They should arrive here in 2 hours or so." said Angel.

"I suggest you treat him fairly, his armies are now stronger than ever. Don't be too nice however, just treat him as you think he should be treated." Erebos said.

As the War Council departed, Commanders Wolffe and Fox reported that the rebels are requesting assistance on a surprise attack by the Sith Empire/Storm. Ahsoka sent the two Commanders plus Captains Keeli and Fil and a Jedi Knight to the aid of the Rebellion.

"Ma'am, do you have a minute to spare?" asked Republic Commander Dyas.

"What is it Commander?" Ahsoka replied.

"With each passing day the Alliance's armies go to war and die at the hands of the Sith, when will the Jedi begin their deployment alongside our armies?" he asked.

"Starting now, Commander. The Jedi are already being briefed on missions that they will partake with the troops. However, Angel, Erebos, and Appo will have to come with me to meet Francis. You, Bacara, and Bly are to go to the NightSisters and begin an assault there. A heavy Sith Empire/Storm fleet has arrived and is threatening to destroy the planet." said Ahsoka.

"Stone and Cody, you two are to go to Kamino and set up better defenses against Sith and Imperials alike." said Ahsoka.

The commanders then went off to do their duty. She ordered Jayfon to double the defenses on Courcant and had Bo and Nouvs go to Tantooine to combat the enemy there. She was reading through the roster of clone commanders she had and noticed something. As she was reading it, she saw that the 41st Elite Corps didn't have a commander. Commander Gree had been killed by Yoda when he tried to kill him. She also noticed that the 104th Battalion had been extremely low on troops. She decided to talk to the highest ranking clone in the 41st Elite. Captain Draa, he was outside his ship with his men. They all had their regular armor with gray markings, similar to the 104th battalion. Ahsoka walked over to Draa and told him that Wolffe was their new commander. Draa quickly accepted it along with the rest of his men because they knew what Wolffe was capable of doing. She told to which Wolffe responded:

"We're going to need a lot of gray paint." Wolffe stated indirectly accepting his new post.

As he called for a droid to bring the paint over, he began introductions between the two units. He was now a commander of a legion, he and Fox quickly boarded their ships and set out to the Rebel base. Ahsoka then met up with Angel, Erebos, and Appo. They had their armies with them and Ahsoka had a personal escort of 300 Senate Defenders, all led by Captain Taggart. As they all took off to meet Francis, Commander Thire told her that he would be sending out patrols of Shock Troopers around Courcant to which she agreed.

When they arrived at the Rupture, Francis was already there. He had only brought his capital ship and 10 Marathon class Heavy Cruisers. He welcomed the Republic forces and told them that Supreme Councilor, Thel Vadam would arrive shortly with the others. Thel arrived even before the Republic's Gunships were able to land on the Infinity class ship. He quickly boarded a Phantom and, along with the other representatives, made his way towards Francis' ship. When Ahsoka and her fellow representatives arrived, Francis saw VanGuards, and Shadow Legionnaires, 501st Arc troopers, and many Senate Defenders.

Thel and the rest of the Covenant Separatists had their own guards as well. Francis turned around and saw that his Titans were formed up behind him and were armed with weapons of their choice. The Librarian was also present and had her escort of 10 Promethean Warriors. Thel Vadam brought 10 Honor Guard Zealots with him for his safety measure. Francis then escorted everyone into the meeting area and they began their first formal council with Ahsoka.

"So, you and I are co-leaders?" Ahsoka asked.

"I guess we are." Francis responded.

As the group started to discuss matters of war and more battle tactics, one of Francis' troopers came running into the room screaming for help. The entire council stared until they saw a red light come out of the soldier's body. The Clone Vanguards got into a battle formation and same with the Legionnaires, everyone in the meeting area, except for the Librarian, went into full combat mode. The Sith Acolytes were ravaging the meeting area, Francis and his allies tried to push them back but soon Shadow Guards and Imperial Knights began joining in the fight. There were thousands of Sith Empire ships and thousands of Storm Battlecruisers coming out of the portal. There were less than 100 Alliance ships but they were able to hold their own against the enemies. As the Battlecruisers began dropping drop pods onto Francis' main ship, the Sith Empire began sending Theta class drop ships in order to support the Sith/Imperial forces. The drop ships brought with them a platoon of Stormtroopers and even Red Guards too. The Storm were sending in Phantoms to also reinforce their allies.

"Sir, were getting overrun, I suggest we fall back to Earth or Coruscant to try and regain our strength." Commander Appo suggested to Ahsoka and Francis.

"I agree, we won't be able to hold out like this much longer. If we can just fall back to Earth and lure the enemy there we can ready our defenses and repel them." said one of Francis' Titans.

"Tell every ship to get their troops on offense and to get to Earth. Someone warn the Home Fleet and tell them were bringing them some target practice." Francis said.

As Francis and his troops began pushing back the Sith Empire/Storm troops, his allies started heading towards the hanger in order to get back to their ships. As they made their way to the hanger, they saw a Sith Lord murdering hundreds of Francis' men and even some of his Titans. Angel sent his Vanguards to kill the Sith Lord but he easily cut them down. Erebos sent in his guards but they ended with the same fate. Luckily, the Librarian sent her Promethean Warriors to aid the allies in their escape. They attacked the Sith Lord but could not defeat him. With only Appo and the Covenant Separatists having troops left, they gave the order for all their troops to attack him. About 80 soldiers plus the surviving ODSTs attacked the Sith Lord again.

They held him back long enough for their leaders to escape. Thel even sent in his Honor Guard Zealots, few of which were able to damage the Sith Lord. It looked as if the troops had a chance to take down the Sith Lord but he drew out his dual-sided light sabers and easily murdered the entire group. The last to fall was Ahsoka's Senate Defender captain, Taggart. He was able to land a shot on the Sith Lord's abdominal area causing him great pain. In response to this, he stabbed Taggart in the center of his helmet and after withdrawing his blade, beheaded him. As the ships left the hanger, the Sith Lord followed them. However, Maverick came out behind the Sith Lord in his Broadsword and quickly shot him down. The Sith Lord's fighter luckily landed in a friendly hanger.

"Nice shot, Maverick!" said Warthog.

"That's gotta be worth at least 200 kills, I mean it was a Sith Lord." he responded.

Most of Francis' cruisers were taking a beating. Majority of their shields were down to 15% or less, he knew it was time for them to head towards Earth. He gave the order for every ship to jump to Earth, and their enemies quickly intercepted the transmission and followed them. When they arrived, the heavily damaged Alliance ships were retreating behind the still fully shielded Alliance ships. The Sith Empire/Storm ships retreated but not before receiving major loses. Although this was viewed as a Alliance victory, it was better for the Sith Empire/Storm. For far too long the populace viewed the Alliance as an "Untouchable God" but they were recently beat back by the Sith Empire/Storm.

"You wasted many of my ships and men! Even so many of yours, you promised me a victory, yet all we have is another defeat." 'Mdama screamed.

"Patience, we have done exactly what we were meant to." the Sith Lord responded.

"What did we do rather than lose too many vital resources?!" 'Mdama roared again.

"We showed the galaxy that we can make a god bleed." the Sith Lord said.

'Mdama left the Sith Lord and tended to the fleet which was badly damaged. Out of the thousands of ships they started with, only 500 remained and all were badly damaged. The Sith Lord's plan was coming together and Francis and his allies were right where he wanted them.


	4. How Gods Fall

A Loving Hope Chronicles

The InterDimensional War

How Gods Fall

When Francis returned to Earth controlled space, he turned on the television in his quarters to ease his mind. He instinctively turned it to the news channel to see what they had to say about the space battle. He was shocked at what he was hearing and was outraged by it. Gabby came in and was also outraged.

"Breaking news, Armada Admiral Francis and his allies were held back by one enemy. The latest and greatest in UNSC's soldiers, the Titans were killed by a single enemy Sith Lord. The same goes for the Prometheans. What started out as a simple War Council meeting turned into a battle that was too hard for the Alliance when the Sith Empire/Storm forces launched a surprise attack. We have exclusive footage of what happened on Armada Admiral Francis' flagship hanger." the reporter said as the video played.

The video was that of the Sith Lord slaughtering many of Francis' Titans and other SuperSoldiers. Towards the end of the clip showed the Alliance leaders retreating back to their ships in an attempt to survive. The reporter was angering Francis and Gabby so much and they both wanted to yell at the reporter.

"Are you hearing this?" Francis heard.

"I can't believe this! I bet that bitch wouldn't even last a second against a common Grunt!" yelled Gabby.

"Let it go, we can't do anything. We should just face the questions and answer accordingly." Francis responded.

The next day, Francis and Gabby were walking out of the Gunship and their clone trooper escorts were also walking out with them. All of a sudden 15 reporters popped out and began asking Francis and Gabby about how they were no longer fit to protect Earth.

"Do you believe that you and the UNSC are still fit to protect Earth? Don't you think that the UNSC should be replaced with the UNAD?" asked a reporter.

"Your absolutely right, from this day forth all UNSC forces will withdraw from Earth. We're going to bring all the families of UNSC personnel and were going to move to Republic space." Francis responded much to the astonishment of the reporters.

The next morning, all UNSC forces and their families were boarding the UNSC ships and heading towards Republic space. Ahsoka happily accepted Francis and his followers and even gave them a planet similar to Earth. Suddenly, the UNAD and UEFD realized that neither of them had their own ships but ONI did have a few Prowlers under them but ONI left with the UNSC. Within the next 3 hours after majority of the UNSC forces and families left, the Home Fleet and SMAC platforms all left to the new planet. However, Francis realized that Reach was still unpopulated so they decided to just go there. When they got there, they saw 10 Storm Battlecruisers trying to destroy the planet, Francis instinctively gave out orders.

"Battle-group Minnesota, engage the enemy." he said.

"Copy, we'll deal with them." the officer responded.

There were 2 Leviathan class Heavy Carriers, 10 Tunge class Heavy Battleships, 25 Marathon class Heavy Cruisers, 50 Lancer class Heavy Destroyers, and 150 Paris class Heavy Frigates. They quickly destroyed the Storm ships and the another battle-group escorted the civilian transports to the ground. Suddenly, as the civilian transports were landing on the surface, a Republic fleet showed up and began trying to contact Francis.

"This is Armada Admiral Francis, what's the matter?" he asked.

"Francis this is Erebos, we found out why the Storm aren't so present in your side of the Rupture. It's because their all here, the Sith Empire/Storm has just initiated a massive attack on the Republic and her allies throughout the galaxy. We need all your ships and your allies to help, please." Erebos begged.

"Let me get Thel Vadam and the rest of the leaders to join in first." Francis said as he pleaded with all the species' elected leaders.

"Please, our allies our suffering and if they fall, imagine having 1,000 copies of each enemy soldier." Francis said.

"Very well, Armada Admiral. We shall aid in you in your attack." Thel responded for all of them.

Within hours, the combined forces of the Covenant Separatists and the forces under Francis entered through the slip space portal. Over half a billion ships came out to aid the Republic. Francis was happy to see that once he got to Republic space, there was only 1 ship. The capital ship of Ahsoka. Although Francis had very little contact with Ahsoka, he knew exactly how efficient she could be in a battlefield.

"Grand Master Ahsoka Tano, how are your forces faring?" Francis asked as his ships went off to the necessary battle areas.

"Not so good. We're still in a strong state but your forces are greatly appreciated. Thank you for coming to our aid." Ahsoka said gladly.

A couple days passed and Francis and Ahsoka's forces were doing their best in each battle. They were able to hold off the enemy forces back but were losing ground slowly but surely. It wasn't long before Francis was forced to get suited up again to go out back into battle. He knew that each battle would be so crucial to the war effort and decided to fight in each battle. Appo and his elite 501st Legion were getting for their assault on Geonosis with help from the UNSC's 174th Planetary Assault Brigade. General Appo had command of the operation and was getting his forces ready for a full scale planetary invasion attack.

"General Appo, the 174th report that their drop ships are ready, VTOLs are ready for air support, and their drop pods are awaiting your order for orbital insertion." said Lt. Denal.

"Good, what about our Gunships? Are they ready yet?" asked Appo.

"All except ours, sir. All fighters and bombers are fueled up and ready to execute battle tactics." he responded.

"Very well, tell the drop pods to deploy in exactly 5 minutes." he ordered.

"Yes, sir." Denal answered.

"Sir, our ParaTroopers are requesting that they drop in as well. Their pods are prepped already." he added.

"Granted, how are the troops?" Appo asked as he and Denal headed down the corridors of the ship to the hanger.

"Anxious, sir. The equipment is ready and the AT-RTs and Saber tanks are loaded up and the RTTs (Republic Troop Transport) are already loaded up with their armaments." Denal said.

"Good, then lets get down there and give 'em hell Lt." Appo said as he and Denal boarded their Gunship.

He could hear the roar of drop pods as his aerial troops began launching down into the battlefield. His fighters and bombers were also launching so they could clear off key areas for the drop ships to land. As his Gunships took off, he noticed that the enemy Geonosis' flak cannons had almost entirely wiped out his fighters and bombers. He was losing too many Gunships and Pelicans trying to get to the surface. One of his troops looked out of the troop bay and saw a Pelican get shot out of the sky and crash into a LAAT carrier.

"Lt. order the 174th to send in their VTOLs to target the flak cannons." Appo screamed.

"Yes, sir." Denal answered.

Within seconds, thousands of Falcons, Hornets, Hawks, and Vultures began hovering towards the battle area. They were trying to take the flak cannons down but the Imperials sent their AT-ATs in to shoot down the VTOLs. When enough of the flak cannons were destroyed, his remaining fighters and bombers began clearing off areas clumped with heavy enemy forces and began targeting the AT-ATs.

"Pilot, land here." Appo screamed.

As the pilot landed, Appo and his troops began landing at the drop point. He saw ParaTroopers and ODSTs shooting at the Storm Elites and the Storm troopers. They were having problems dealing with Hunters and Jackal snipers. Luckily, the 174th had a attachment of Skirmishers with them. The Skirmishers would deal with the Jackals and Imperial Scouts. As the other Gunships and Pelicans landed, they dropped off the Saber tanks, AATs, AT-XTs, AT-RTs, Cobras, Gauss Hogs, Mantises and Cyclopses.

"Lt. tell all units to advance, we need to clear a big enough area for the assault ships to land." Appo said to him over the radio.

"All units, press forward. I repeat, press forward." Denal ordered.

There were still AT-ATs in the area and they were wrecking havoc on the drop ships. Denal quickly radioed Lt. Kano and Commander Vill to request that their AT-TEs target the selected coordinates he sent to them. They obliged and ordered their AT-TEs to take down the AT-ATs. As Appo and Denal began moving forward, Commander Bow and Lt. Kix got caught in a cross fire between 2 Stormtrooper and a few Storm Elite battalions.

"General Appo, this is Commander Bow. My men and I need immediate air support, were surrounded." he pleaded.

"Copy, air support inbound, commander." Appo responded.

"Rex, are you and your men ready for deployment?" asked Appo.

"We've been ready." Rex answered.

Rex looked over to Fives and his squad. Fives led ARC troopers Hevy, Echo, Droidbait, and Cutup. Rex was leading Clone Commandos Jesse, Hardcase, Tup, and Dogma. They were supported by 4 Gunships of 501st Clone scouts, AT-RT Drivers, and ARF troopers led by Lt. Boomer. Rex had 7 other Gunships of regular 501st clones as well.

"Alright, men lets get this done." Rex said as he and his men boarded the Gunships.

"Just like Umbara, huh Rex." Fives said.

As Rex and his Gunships departed followed by CR20s carrying reinforcements from Lightning Battalion and the CR25s carrying the RTTs and Lightning Battalion's AT-PTs from the AAS Undeniable, Appo and his commanders on the ground were trying to knock down the AT-ATs and AT-STs that formed a barricade in front of them. Rex gave his Gunships the order to fire at the heads of the walkers so it would be an instant kill and they did so. As his Gunships landed, the RTTs came and began loading everyone in. Each one was able to carry around a little more than a platoon of troops.

"Captains Razor and Stak, good to see you. I take it your here to aid us in taking Geonosis?" Rex asked.

"Of course, Commander Neyo sent Lightning Battalion to help out in any way we can, were yours to command." Razor responded.

"Well, we need a battalion to go behind enemy lines to cause some mayhem before we move in, think you guys can do it?" Appo asked.

"Just tell us when. We brought the new AT-PTs with us, their a lot faster than AT-RTs and better armored than them too." Razor bragged.

As the RTTs, tanks, and walkers moved forward, Hornets came above and began escorting the strike force towards Geonosis' colosseum. When they arrived there, Captain Richardson of the 142nd told Appo that his men could do another drop on the enemy lines, he said that his troops that were still onboard could drop in before Lightning Battalion commences its distraction.

"Very well, I'll tell my ParaTroopers as well but it has to be a strafing drop. We aren't sure yet what kind of defenses are in the colosseum." Appo said.

"Yes, sir. I'll relay the message to the ships." Richardson said as he left.

The 501st and 174th had been traveling for hours and the men were exhausted. Majority of them had fallen asleep in the RTTs but some got out so they could walk outside. Appo noticed that the 174th had its regular marines wear pilot armor (Halo 3 marine pilot). He made small talk with the corporal who said that Francis is changing it because his some commanding officers were getting squads mixed up.

"Who's in charge of the 174th?" Appo asked.

"Commander Forge, he's in RTT 45, sir." Corporal Thomas said.

Appo walked over to RTT 45 and checked for Commander Forge. He was a rugged looking soldier, he wore the armor of a BHEUM and even had some BHEUMs with him. BHEUMs were the equivalent to Clone Commandos in the UNSC.

"Excuse me, Commander Forge." Appo said.

"What dammit?! I'm asleep." Forge said before he saw who he was talking to.

"I'm sorry, sir." Forge added.

"Haha, it's alright. Everyone's a little groggy from this journey. Listen, we need to discuss battle tactics because we have a base plan but we need to detail it. Since your the leader of the 174th I thought we'd both talk about it so that I can get your input." Appo said.

"Alright, sir. What would you like to discuss." Forge asked.

As they were discussing their tactics, the convoy stopped and began opening fire. Stormtroopers began assaulting the convoy and were aided by Sun Guards. They were trying to destroy the convoy but Lightning Battalion was already there to hold off the Imperials. Appo quickly told Rex and Torrent Company to get out there and assist Lightning Battalion. Lightning Battalion's AT-PTs and ARF troopers and Torrent Company's AT-RTs and Scout troopers began pressing forward while the 501st and 174th's troops were waking up and getting ready for the battle. The tanks and other armored units were covering the RTTs. When the Clone troopers of the 501st and the BHEUMs began their deployment, the Storm deployed 5 battalions of troops, 3 heavy armor divisions and 6 Light armor divisions to assist their Sith Empire allies. The Sith Empire deployed an extra 4 companies of Stormtroopers, a platoon of Royal Guards and 2 divisions of AT-STs.

"General, were outnumbered. I suggest we either call in air support and have our heavy armored units advance." Commander Forge said.

"I agree, General. If we only send our walkers forward, the enemy AT-STs and enemy Wraiths and Ghosts will tear our walkers down. We should send the Gauss hogs and walkers behind our Saber tanks, AATs, and Cobras." Denal said, agreeing with Forge.

"Fine, do it." Appo said.

As Rex, Forge, Bow, Vill, and Appo's men started moving up, Lightning Battalion was holding their current position and weren't fairing so well against the advancing enemy forces. Razor saw that many of his troops' positions were getting overrun and told his AT-PTs to cover their retreating forces and to fall back after the troops get about 10 yards out. As they started retreating, the 501st and 174th pulled up and began attacking the enemy. Lightning Battalion quickly turned around and continued fighting alongside their allies. Rex's Torrent Company started lobbing grenades at the enemy columns in an effort to hold them off. They heard the screeching of blaster shots and the booming of conclusion missiles hitting the ground.

"Lt. Coric, bring in your squad and a platoon of Heavy troopers to our coordinates." Rex said.

"Yes, sir. Right away sir." Coric responded. Coric was one of the veterans of Torrent Company, being one of the first to form it.

Coric came and brought the reinforcements to Appo and his allies and they quickly stopped the advancing infantry forces and with Coric and his men, they started blasting the AT-STs and Wraiths out of commission. Coric jumped onto an AT-ST and threw a grenade down its hatch and jumped onto another one. The Wraith tank next to it shot at him but he jumped off the AT-ST as it was destroyed by the Wraith shot and onto the Wraith itself. He smashed the hatch open and killed the driver, jumped in and shot down a couple Wraiths and AT-STs he then boosted the Wraith into a column of Hunters and Elites. The Grunts started firing their fuel rod cannons at it and Coric jumped out and landed on the ground alive. When he got back up he saw 501st and 174th forces beating back enemy forces. He watched as Wraiths and AT-STs exploded, he watched enemy troops fall to Alliance forces, and he saw Rex walking over to him to get him back on his feat and to get him to continue the battle.

"We're getting to old for this." Coric said.

"Haha, were the same age Coric." Rex said.

"We're both 38 already. You'd think by now everyone would be too tired to fight." Coric said as he pulled his rifle from the ground.

"Not us though, were soldiers." Rex responded laughing.

They continued on with the fight and ultimately won the Geonosian campaign. They were getting their stuff packed up and getting ready to leave Geonosis to go to their war council meeting. They had taken heavy casualties and lost a lot of good men but knew that no one died in vain. His troops all boarded their ships and left Geonosis secured in Alliance control. Coric decided to get some new armor. He requested a Shadow Tech helmet, Arc trooper lieutenants body armor with oversized shoulder pads and an antenna on the left one, and regular 501st gloves and boots. He also asked for holsters on his armor for 2 DC-15 blaster pistols. His armor had blue marking on his armor and had a blue scar from the top of his upper right visor to the bottom left of his mouth area.

"Wow, new armor, huh?" said one of Coric's brothers.

"Haha, yeah. You know how it is." Coric responded.

"No I don't actually." the similar voice responded.

"Well, if it isn't the badass himself. Welcome back." said Coric as he realized he was talking to Captain Fordo.

"Haha, thanks. Listen, I'm here to make you an offer. Coric, have you heard of Project Blaze?" Fordo asked.

"No what is it?" asked Coric.

"It's clones specifically trained to undergo missions too delicate for even Commandos. The Hazardous Assault Commandos, HAC troopers." he responded.

"Wow, sounds great. Why are you telling me this?" Coric asked.

"Currently, there are only 20 HACs in total. There are some training squads I'm thinking of recruiting but it'd be great if you and your squad would join in." Fordo offered.

"Wow, you can count my squad in." Coric said.

Fordo nodded then handed a holo pad to Coric. Coric read through it and saw it was the armor requirement for his troops to wear. It was a standard phase 2 clone trooper helmet with a blood red visor. The body armor contained shotgun shells on the left shoulder, a back antenna, and a white trimmed kama with dual pistol holders. The color scheme was odd to Coric, it was black from the forehead of the helmet up, a black and red visor, on the shoulders it was black with a red line down the middle, black camouflage on the forearms, black camouflage on the chest piece with a red line on the left side, and red camouflage from the knees down with red markings. Everything else was white. Coric requested 6 armor sets of this but to have a standard phase 2 clone trooper helmet with a visor, blood red visor, left head side short-ranged antenna and a arc command sash with the same color scheme.

"Hey, Rex can I talk to you?" Coric asked as he ran up next to him.

"What about?" asked Rex.

"I entered my squad into a new division of clones, the HACs." Coric said.

"Okay, and?" Rex asked.

"I need your clearance to do so, Fordo said." Coric said.

Rex then signed the paper that Coric was trying to give him and the two parted ways. Rex told him he was proud of Coric before leaving him. The next morning, a Kaminoan supply ship rendezvoused with the Undeniable and unloaded 3 crates of the new clone armor. Coric signed for it and his troops gave their previous armor to the Kaminoan.

"This armor set is still new." the Kaminoan said regarding Coric's armor.

"I got transferred to a new unit and I needed a new uniform." Coric responded as his troops examined the crates.

The Kaminoan then went on his way and Coric went to see the new armor. His troops opened the crates and found new armor sets, they regarded at how nice it looked and they proceeded to put the armor sets on. Attie, his second in command, handed him the crate that contained his armor set. As Coric pulled on the command sash, he looked at the helmet and was admiring it. As he pulled the helmet on, he saw the vitals of his squad as well. Fordo then came back on the ship onboard a CR25 with all of his HACs. The first HACs were Fordo and his 11 Arc troopers, next was an add-on of 8 Arc trained clone troopers, and finally was 20 newly trained HACs. In total there were now 46 HACs. They were to be divided into groups of 5 but Coric would retain his original squad, consisting of Attie, Del, Hil, Nax Zeer, and himself.

"I will now also name Coric and LCDR (Lt. Commander) of all HACs." said Fordo.

Coric gladly accepted his new posting and responded to Fordo with a salute. Appo went out into the hanger and was accompanied by Havoc and 5 other 501st Arc troopers, Prudii and 5 other 501st Null-class Arcs, Maze and his 501st Alpha-class Arcs, and Crosser came out with 5 other 501st Clone Commandos. Appo was worried that there would be a fight about to break out and it got worse when a few Rail-class Arcs stepped in but instead they all began having conversation. It was rare that Nulls and Alphas would talk and even more rare to laugh with each other. The group was training with each other and all Appo could do was stand in shock as they did so. Suddenly, each leader of the different CommandoOps branches came up to Appo.

"We want to start up a CommandoOps brigade. Only Alphas, Nulls, Arcs, Rail-class Arcs, HACs, and Commandos. Any further additions go through all of us." said Fordo.

"Whose going to take charge of it? It has to be someone outside of the units composing it." Appo responded.

"Rex." Fives said.

Rex led Torrent Company and if he also led all of the RGAR's commandos that'd mean he would promoted from Brigadier to a Brigadier General. When Appo offered him the position, he accepted it since majority of his troops were SpecOps forces. Red was now still the forth highest ranking soldier in the RGAR followed by Bly and then Bacara who were both going to be promoted to Brigadier. When Rex gained control of the RGAR's

(Restored Grand Army of the Republic) CommandoOps brigade the first thing he did was to add in all other commandos that wanted entry. Nearly all other major commando units applied.

"The Commando Droids, MagnaGuards, Mandalorian SuperCommandos, Rebel Commandos, Nimbus Commandos, and also Rebel Infiltrators are requesting admittance to the CommandoOps brigade." Fordo said to Rex.

"Let's see their files." Rex said as he took a look at them. He was impressed with all of them and told Fordo that hey had the approval of him and it was up to Fordo and Coric now.

"We both agree, sir." Coric said after a brief chat with Fordo.

It was done. Novus allowed Rex to take command of his SuperCommandos and Thire and Typho both allowed their commandos to join. Now with this many troops, Rex had become a Regimental Brigader General. He was glad at this and was also very harsh on his training methods. He made sure they all grew close but was also marketing to them to be competitive with each other.

(Meanwhile on Coruscant, Thire is visited by Ahsoka Tano.)

"Commander, I brought you 10,000 Shock Troopers. I want you to find Durge so that he can take over all droid forces. I need you focused on leading Coruscant's defense." she said.

"Yes, ma'am." Thire said.


	5. The War Contagion

A Loving Hope Chronicles

The InterDimensional War

The War Contagion

Commander Thire and his legion of Shock troopers departed from Coruscant and headed towards Yavin IV. They had received a tip that Durge had taken refuge there after Palpatine created the Galactic Empire. Thire took 1 Venator-class Star Destroyer, 2 Acclamator-class Assault Ships, 5 Pelta-class Frigate, and 10 Arquitens-class Light Cruisers with him. When they arrived in Yavin IV space, Commander Thire boarded a Pelta-class Frigate and took it to the surface of the planet. The rest of the ships all took defensive positions over the planet.

"Tell the battle-group not to let any ship in or out of the planet while on on the surface." Thire said to captain.

He turned to look at his top lieutenants and began to go over the mission with them. Jek and Rys were always present with Thire. When they were looking for the dead body of him on behalf of the emperor they accompanied him. Now they had to find Durge for Ahsoka.

"Search all the cantinas, most bounty hunters are there." Jek said.

When the frigate was within the atmosphere of the planet, it launched 2 Gunships and 1 Drop ship carrying an AT-TE at first to scout out the area. The Gunships contained Rys and his 2 platoons. The Gunships speeded down towards the planet so that the recon team could report back to the frigate sooner. Rys and his Gunship were the first to land and he ordered other ships to land also.

"All units are on the ground, sir." Rys said reporting to Thire.

"Good, Recon Team Alpha advance." Thire said.

Rys led a recon team of 1 AT-TE, 4 AT-RTs with AT-RT drivers, 10 Coruscant Guard ARF troopers, and 30 regular Shock troopers. They made their way towards the nearest civilized town and began their search. Rys gave his troops the order to spread out in groups of 2 because he knew how dangerous Durge was. As the clones moved out, Rys stayed onboard his AT-TE and was monitoring via comlinks and through the roster screen onboard the AT-TE. Suddenly, blaster fire was heard over the intercoms and Rys demanded a sit-rep. His troops responded that they found Durge and that they were attempting to stun him but to no avail.

"Runners Tango and Charlie, responded to these coordinates." Rys ordered to his AT-RTs.

"Sir, it appears Durge is heading towards the AT-TE." said a Platoon Sergeant.

"You two, on your AT-RTs now. Do not kill Durge, Grand Master Tano wants him alive." Rys ordered to the two AT-RT drivers on the AT-TE with him.

"Gunner, do not kill Durge, I repeat do not kill Durge." Rys commanded to the AT-TE gunner.

As the two AT-RTs exited the AT-TE, Durge began running towards the area. He was being followed by the ARF troopers and the AT-RTs. Rys told his Shock troopers to take defensive positions and to set blasters to stun. Durge managed to dodge most of their shots but finally, Rys told a sniper to stun him immediately and the sniper did so.

"Commander Thire, this is Recon Team Alpha. We've captured Durge and need transportation to evac him." Rys said.

"Copy, Recon Team Alpha. Gunships inbound to extract your team." Thire responded.

As the Gunships arrived to extract the team, the other teams were reporting Stormtrooper presence on the planet. Thire knew that he didn't have the firepower to take the Stormtroopers on if a fleet of Sith Empire ships came so he opted to send bombers in after all 7 recon teams were extracted. Rys and his ARF troopers were present on the Gunship carrying Durge and were all pointing their blasters at his head. By the time the Gunship landed on the flagship, all Stormtrooper bases had been bombed 10x over.

"Sir, a massive Imperial fleet has just exited hyperspace." said a radar officer.

"Get us the hell out of here." Thire said before all his ships jumped back to Coruscant space.

Thire, Rys, Jek, and a platoon of Coruscant Guard ARF troopers boarded a Cr20 troop transport that was carrying Durge. When it entered Coruscant, Ahsoka sent out a few police Gunships to protect the transport. The pilots of the police Gunships informed Commander Thire that he was to land in the same Republic Military Base that Ahsoka was locked up in many years ago. It was heavily guarded by a few Arquitens-class light cruisers, dozens of AT-TEs, SPHAs, AT-XTs, Saber tanks, AT-RTs, and Turbo tanks. In the air were large amounts of HAET-221s (Gunboats) and Republic Attack Gunships. It was also garrisoned with 5,000 Shock troopers, 15,000 Coruscant police officers, and 1,500 Senate Guards/Commandos/Defenders. When Thire and his transport landed, Ahsoka was present with 5 Republic SpecOps soldiers and 10 Super troopers. They were clad in their heavier version of clone armor and were ready to escort Durge.

"Welcome back, commander. It's good to see that Durge wasn't to much of a problem for you." Ahsoka said.

"Not for a command staff with Rys and Jek in it." Thire responded.

As they entered the base, Thire's two ARF troopers were still carrying the bounty hunter. They loaded him on a stretcher and carried him to his cell. Once there, Durge awoke. Before Thire and his men could stun him again Ahsoka gave them the order to stand down. She walked over to the warrior and offered him the chance to do something right for a change. He said that he wanted to end the Sith Empire/Storm Alliance.

"I want command of all droid forces." Durge started.

"Fine." Ahsoka said.

"And I want to be able to incorporate a battalion of clones and a few of my fellow Gen'Dai battle brothers." Durge added.

"Deal." Ahsoka said as she extended her hand.

Durge shook Ahsoka's hand and left to Kamino to train his future clone battalion. Ahsoka quickly alerted Cody to inform him of Durge's new employment in the RGAR. Cody acknowledged it quickly and informed the rest of his troops of the new commander. His Arquitens-class light cruiser came out of hyperspace carrying him and his 10 other Gen'Dai brothers. He also brought with him a platoon of SBDs. When they landed on Kamino, Durge approached Lama Su and asked for a battalion of clones who will be trained in the Gen'Dai ways.

Lama Su quickly obliged and had his clones create 576 units. He implemented aspects of Gen'Dai training and teachings also. In addition he taught them fighting styles and weapon handling. When he finished imputing all the information Lama Su created 576 fully trained Gen'Dai clone trooper traditionalist. Their armor set was regular phase II armor but with macro-binoculars, back antenna, oversized shoulders and a Kama with blaster holsters. They had the Gen'Dai symbol in the middle of their battle armor and also on the shoulders. Durge gave his battalion major a visor and ARC command paulderon and ARC command antenna. They were called RoughRage battalion, their CO was Clone Major Reigs (CM-01-0124). They were noticeably more muscular than their other brothers and had a bit more of a bloodlust compared to the rest.

"Reigs have the troops ready for a ship boarding and also for a full-scale assault." Durge said.

"And you, I want SBDs, UBSs (Ultra battle droids), Destroyer droids, Dwarf Spider Droids, Advanced-Dwarf Spider Droids, Crab Droids, MagnaGuards, Commando Droids, War Droids, and Lancer Droids ready for an attack." Durge said to a MagnaGuard.

As Reigs and the MagnaGuard left to go and prepare the troops, a group of 4 Covenant Battlecruisers and 8 UNSC Destroyers came out of slip space to help aid Durge in his plan. They told Durge that they will wait for Durge so that they could carry out their mission. Durge then checked to see if his troops and droids were ready. When he was certain they were all ready, he ordered his army to board the Acclamator-class Assault Ship and took it to space. He told the Covenant and UNSC commanders that he needed them to do a strafing drop on enemy ships and that they had to engage a fleet of 15 Imperial Star Destroyers supported by 30 Victory II-class Star Destroyers.

As his ships left to the mission area, the Sangheili ShipMaster saw a gigantic ship that was guarded by dozens of Star Destroyers. The UNSC Admiral quickly took action telling his ships to engage the smaller Victory-class Star Destroyers and the Covenant Battlecruisers to engage the Imperial-class Star Destroyers. Durge ordered his troops to get their jet packs on and to follow him. He had his Gunships carry the droids that weren't able to utilize a jet pack. There were about 2,576 of his troops using a jet pack he had 20 Gunships following him carrying 500-600 other droids. When Durge and his invasion force reached the ship one of his clones yelled:

"This is the Arc Hammer! This is where the Dark Troopers come from."

"Yes it is, and were going to take it." Durge responded as his troops started to engage the Stormtrooper guards.

He quickly took the hanger of the massive ship and ordered his Gunships to land. As they landed, they saw Durge's ships start to beat back the Imperial fleet. He ordered All of his troops to charge straight towards the bridge. His troops would then break off every now and then to engage the enemies in a certain room. When he arrived at the bridge it was only Durge, most of RoughRage, and a few MagnaGuards. He ordered his MagnaGuards and his battalion to secure the entire ship while he dealt with the bridge. He opted to not use any weapon so that he wouldn't damage the ship. He killed a Sith Acolyte that tried sneaking up on him and proceeded to kill the rest of the enemies.

"Sir, we've secured the ship. The Dark Trooper construction area is in our control, none of the Dark Troopers were activated." Reigs said.

"Good, get the Droids to reprogram them to Alliance control." said Durge.

Then Durge ordered the Arc Hammer to destroy its escorts and it did so. His fleet had sustained little damage losing only a few fighters and a single Destroyer but other than that they were unscathed. He then cancelled the production of a few Dark Troopers, but kept the best ones. Phases 0-3 were all kept, Dark Nova-troopers, Inquisitorium Dark Troopers, Glory-class Dark Troopers, Blackhole-class Dark Troopers, Purge Troopers, and Elite Dark Troopers were all kept in production but the rest were abandoned. He asked the Sangheili ShipMaster to secure the phrik mining facilities on Gromas 16 and asked the Destroyers to take defensive positions. His Acclamator-class Assault Ship was ordered to return to Ahsoka to inform her of their newest addition. Durge then went to the production area to examine his new addition to his army.

A couple days later, Durge began examining his army, he greatly favored the Phase-III Dark Troopers, the Purge Trooper, and the Inquisitorium Dark Troopers. He would make these exclusive to only his forces but allowed the other types to be distributed amongst the Alliance. He sent many of each type of Dark Trooper other than his three favorites to Erebos for his Burning Shadow Legion. Reigs and the rest of his battalion requested the AAS Unflinching to bring them Blaze Trooper battle suits and also EMP launchers. They ordered them to come within an hour and it did. Each armor set was then customized by each member of RoughRage battalion to their own liking. They all retained their Gen'Dai markings and even featured a few more. Durge ordered his army to assemble in the hanger and saw his clone battalion clad in Blaze trooper armor, his 3 favorite variants of Dark Troopers, and his droids. He was very much pleased with his army and told them to train.

"Well, you've been quite busy commander." Erebos said as he came on deck.

"Attention on deck!" Durge yelled as he and his army snapped to attention.

"At ease." Erebos responded.

"Did you get your gift?" Durge asked.

"Yes, and I greatly appreciate them. Although, I did receive any of those three. I'm assuming those are your favorites?" Erebos asked.

"Yes, sir." Durge said.

As the two kept on talking, Erebos' Shadow Elite Troopers began appearing throughout the ship and were testing their hand-to-hand combat with the Dark Troopers. His troops were evenly matched with the cyborgs and soon, Francis and his flagship arrived to test his super soldiers as well. Francis suggested they all return to Reach for a little break from the war. He invited Durge, Appo, Erebos, Rex, Angel, Typho, Republic commander Dyas, Bacara, Bly, Novus, Bo, and his group. They all brought with them their fleets and were doing a last patrol before heading off to Reach. Strangely enough, they found another rupture.

"Francis, we should go through to see where it leads." Gabby said.

"Send Maverick and his squadron through. Also send in a Paris-class Heavy Frigate." Francis said.

"Tell Warthog and his squad to get out there and assist Maverick. Have a couple Arquitens-class Light Cruisers follow." Ahsoka said.

As the convoy entered the Rupture, they saw a single planet, and a Sun and Moon. They saw that it was somewhat like Earth and believed at first that it was. Maverick suggested that the entire fleet come through and it did. The Alliance had found another dimension, which meant another war to fight. Francis told his ODSTs to load up for a mission and Angel told his VanGuards to do the same. Erebos had his Shadow Paratroopers ready and Commander Forge and his BHEUMs were also in SOEIVs. As they set a landing point, they launched down into the planet. It looked rather civilized and had a good amount of humanoid people. They all landed safely and started scouting the area. Francis asked the closest native a question:

"Where are we?"

"Jacinto." responded the man.

"What planet?" Francis asked.

"Sera. Are you with the COG?" he responded again.

"No, where is your leader?" Erebos asked.

The man directed the men to a large building. It was highly decorative and had strange looking guards. They wore predominantly blue armor and had chainsaws on their guns. Francis thought that he was going to have to battle with them and worried about them. They were a bit more built than his own troops and looked strong. As Francis approached the front entrance, the guards stopped him.

"Where do you think your going?" the guard asked.

"I need to speak with the leader." Francis said.

"The Chairman? For what reason?" the guard asked.

"We aren't from here, we need some help." Angel said.

The guard looked at them and allowed them to enter. He took their weapons and dropped them into a box before escorting them to the Chairman. Once they arrived, the guard opened the large bronze doors and spoke out to the Chairman.

"Chairman, you got some visitors. They say they aren't from here." he said.

"Thank you, corporal." the Chairman responded.

Francis and Angel told the troops to stay outside and only the 4 leaders entered the room. They asked questions about the planet and the Chairman was listening attentively. At the end of all the explanations, he laughed. He didn't believe a single word they had said. Francis ordered that a couple UNSC Destroyers to come down to the planet. Angel then ordered that a couple Acclamator-class Assault Ships come as well. When they all came, Francis directed the Chairman to look outside. As he did he was in great shock. A couple of Gears ran into the room armed with their lancers and protected the Chairman.

"Relax, we came in peace. We got here through a tear in dimensional fabric. We all came from different dimensions but for some reason these tears aren't causing any damage." Erebos said.

"I thought you were some kind of trick the Locust set up." the Chairman said.

"No, what's your name?" Francis asked.

"Chairman Foreman, Jacob Foreman." he said.

A group of Onyx Guards came rushing into the room and were aiming at the visitors. The Chairman ordered them to lower their weapons and they followed. They were all confused by what was going on and it only got worse when they saw the Locust Remnant attacking.

"You see those guys, their our enemies. They killed thousands of innocents, if we join your alliance can you help us with those guys?" the Chairman asked.

"Sure." Erebos said.

"Count us in." he replied.

As he agreed, Francis ordered marines to be deployed and to aid the COG army. The Destroyers began their deployment and the same went with the Assault Ships. Francis ran outside to meet the enemy face to face, he saw Gears fighting back the Locust monsters and tried to aid them. Cobras were landed on the ground and sent to push back the monsters, but there were to many. The Chairman ordered the Onyx Guard to deploy and assist their mainline brothers. Brumaks were deployed by the Locust and easily shot down the destroyers and assault ships. The only surviving assault ship flew over to a ridge so that surviving alliance forces could retreat but just as it hovered near the ridge, a Corpser popped out from the ground and jumped onto the ship. Erebos looked into the distance and watched as the Corpser dug a gigantic hole through the ship, destroying it.

"Sir, that's the last of the ships we had down here." Erebos said.

"Dammit, can we get any other ships to come down here?" Francis asked.

"Yes, but if we leave the COG won't stand a chance." Angel responded.

"Who said anything about leaving? Send all ships back to their sectors except for mine, Erebos, Angel, and Forge. Also someone send for Field Marshall Ado Fulsam." Francis said.

As only 50 ships remained, Francis ordered that Paratroopers and ODSTs be dropped in to aid the COG. The COG began their deployment of tanks and Centaurs to help retake the area. The COG army was very powerful and was well armored. As Armadillos, APCs, and Packhorses escorted civilians out of the area. KR Gunship units were slaughtering the Reavers but on the ground, Brumaks and Corpsers were abolishing the COG army and its armor divisions. As Alliance forces began deploying its troops, the Onyx Guard was withdrawn from the battle since the rest of the army had responded. The Locust had now began falling back due to being out gunned by the more experience COG soldiers and Alliance forces. A group of Gears went around collecting COG tags from the dead. While Francis was walking around he saw many dead ODSTs, clones, COG soldiers, and droids. Surprisingly, he saw no bodies from the Onyx Guard. He turned to his left and saw large masses of bodies from the enemy. About 10 Brumaks laid dead and thousands of dead Grub bodies were scattered around. Francis faced the Corpsers who were extremely deadly, the most notable one was the one that surfaced onto an AT-TE and dragged it down its hole and threw the destroyed machine back up to the surface. The Locust were horrifying and had to be stopped.

"I remember fighting them. The bastards never stay dead, my father gave his life to kill them all through the Maelstrom but somehow, they survived. Albeit weaker than before, luckily while they've been gone the COG has been able to build up its military might once again. Most of our troops are veterans and have enough experience on the field to handle them." Fenix said.

"Well, they seem pretty tough still. We lost a lot of good men." Francis said.

"Trust me, the original Locus Horde would've either still be fighting or we'd all be surrendering." Fenix responded.

"My name is Francis, I'm the leader of the UEG." he said.

"I'm Marcus Fenix, I'm leader of all Special Forces in the COG." he replied.

"I have a few questions about the COG." Francis said to Fenix.

"Like what?" Fenix asked.

"Armor, lets start with that." Francis said as he and Fenix walked into the Chairman's chambers.

"Well, there are 2 kinds of armor sets. The Summertime set and the standard set. Most troops prefer the standard because it offers more protection but the Summertime is easier to move around in. There are 7 different types of helmets and 7 different types of body armor. Some troops have mixed armor like other pieces they find from fallen soldiers but majority retain the standard set." Fenix said as he grabbed a helmet.

"What about those guys in black armor?" Francis asked.

"Oh, the Crown Jewels of our military, the Onyx Guard is made up of the best veterans in the COG. Only I and the Chairman can select who gets promoted to that organization and it takes a lot to get in. They are the best of the best and I usually send them in when completely necessary." Fenix said as he tossed the helmet at Francis.

The Onyx Guard reminded Francis of the Super-Soldiers in the UNSC and the Commandos and Arcs in the RGAR. He was then reminded that he had to find some way of combating the Locust. As he was thinking, a couple Covenant Battlecruisers and a Assault Carrier showed up and began deploying reinforcements to the city. At first, Marcus was about to call Onyx Guards again but was told that they were with Francis. The Elites were confronted by Gears but Marcus issued the order that they were allies. The Gears were somewhat scared of the Elites and the Elites were curios about the Gears. They looked stronger than average humans. The ODSTs and Marines were a little on edge about the Gears and weren't sure how to react to them.

As Francis and Marcus resumed talking in his office, a couple of Shadow Clone Commandos came into the room to alert the two of the pending second assault from the Locust. Marcus ordered his troops to engage the Locust and Francis did the same. Erebos deployed his Blackhole Galactic Marines and Ado Fulsam already had his troops deployed. Outside the Chairman's office, the Elites were expecting the worst as they had never faced the Locust before.

"Tell me human, what is the fighting style of our adversaries?" asked one of the Elite Majors to one of the BHEUMs.

"You know how Brutes fight?" he asked.

"Yes." the major responded.

"Like that but even more ferocious and gruesome." the BHEUM responded.

"Would it be right to guess that our enemies are rather... How you humans say, stupid?" the Major asked.

"They look stupid but they aren't. They tactically smart and physically powerful. Don't underestimate them, if you do you'll die." said one of the nearby Gears.

"Tell me human, how long have you been at war against these monsters?" the Major asked again.

"16 years. This is the 2nd Locust War, and luckily majority of our veterans are still alive." the Gear stated.

"Well then, let us see how powerful your enemies are." the Major said while looking at the two human soldiers.

The Major turned around and saw a couple holes form around the Scarab's legs causing it to fall onto its belly, not long afterwards the Major witnessed a Corpser grab around the Scarab and drag it down.

"By the Arbiter! What was that abomination!" the Major screamed.

"Corpser, Locust's use them to take down powerful enemy threats that the Brumaks can't take down." the Gear said.

"What is a Brumak?" the Major asked.

"That." the Gear said as he and his squad started to engage the Locust.

The rest of the Alliance forces began attacking the Locust army but without the sector's Scarab the area was only stationed with soldiers and no artillery. A Centaur column popped out from behind the Alliance forces and began opening fire on the Brumak. Within seconds the massive beast was killed but the Locust soldiers were advancing on the position.

"Attack!" yelled a SBD before it was savagely destroyed by a Drone.

The Major and his Elites were fighting off the Locust and their weapons seemed to cause some effect on the enemy soldiers. The Elites started to lead a charge against the Locust but by now majority of the Grenadiers had began their counter-attack on the Elite led charge. The Grenadiers tossed grenades that killed many attackers and many Alliance troops were killed by the Grenadiers shortly after. The Elite Major ordered that all Alliance forces retreat but they were encircled quickly. He noticed that the Gars continued to fight the Locust even with odds stacked against them, the Major ordered all of his Elites to continue the battle and also gave the order to the clones and marines that were with him.

The ringing of grenades exploding and the hissing of bullets passing by were deafening but Alliance forces kept up the fight. The Major was about to be killed but Onyx Guards were deployed throughout Jacinto by the Chairman. They beat back the Locust in the area with assistance from other Alliance forces and a few Covenant Locust walkers. With the Locust now on the retreat, Alliance forces called in Warthogs to lead the ground forces forward. The elites had witnessed first hand how deadly their foes were. The Major originally had 125 Elites under him but after that little skirmish only 50 remained. His troops were not used to combating such savage enemies that were also intelligent.

"These mongrels have an elites mind and a brutes strength." the Major thought to himself as they began to march forward.

Back at the Chairman's office, the 3 highest ranking officials were discussing their Alliance. Angel and Erebos had replaced Ahsoka in her sector so that they could partake in the meeting. Jacob, Francis, and Ahsoka all stepped into the Chairman's office and discussed the Locust threat. Ahsoka noted that many clones were brutally murdered by the Locust and Francis noted that a lot of his marines were being tortured according to the recordings he had received.

"Look, I know this is a brutal war but no one is forcing you to fight it." Marcus said.

"We're just saying that many of our troops are dying for your war but none of your men are helping fight in ours." Ahsoka said.

"We could have some of our troops come here and relieve some of yours." Francis said.

"Alright, but how are they going to get there?" Marcus asked.

"Our ships. We can supply you with the funds and materials to create your own ships and we can help speed up the aging of your babies in the birthing farm to 18 and then reduce the rate back to normal." said Ahsoka.

"How about designs? Who's going to design the ships?" asked Marcus.

"Your own scientist." Francis said.

A few weeks later, a couple COG scientists and engineers were taken off planet along with a couple ten thousand workers. The Locust had tried to stop the scientists and others from leaving but were quickly put down by the Elite Onyx Guard supported by the Spartan-IVs and Arc troopers. Elite Honor Guards and Brute Honor Guards had actively taken the role of field commanders during the Alliance-Locust War. They combated the Locust's brutal tactics with tactics they used during their Covenant Empire days. They utilized their Glassing beams and superior technology to overpower the Locust Horde. These traits coupled with the brutal tactics utilized by the Alliance forced the Locust to reconsider their standings.

"How goes the surface war?" Ado Fulsam asked to his Elite and Brute Honor Guards.

"We have beaten back the Locust back into the Hollow and the Deadlands. We estimate a victory in 5-10 months should our progress continue this way." said one of the Elite Honor Guards.

"The COG soldiers are extremely powerful and brave, much like the UNSC warriors and the Onyx Guard is a very effective force. They remind me of the Demons, I have a deep respect for our new allies." a Brute Honor Guard responded.

"I am glad to hear that. Listen, we have received disturbing news... The Sith Empire/Storm forces have broken through our defensive lines. Francis just alerted me that the Sith Empire/Storm is a lot more powerful than we had originally anticipated. Jul 'Mdama and his forces are beating back the Supreme Councilor and the Covenant Separatists. The UNAD and UEFD had been worn down by Insurrectionists and now have to deal with a fleet of enemy forces. The UNSC reluctantly withdrew a couple of its forces to save Earth and her colonies, and the Sith Empire has been attacking Kamino and Coruscant forcing many Clone commanders, Rebel commanders, and Republic commanders to withdraw themselves to help out. The Republic's allies, such as Bo Katan and Novus Vizsla have been forced to return to Mandalore because the Stormtroopers have blockaded the planet. The Droids are fighting on Geonosis to defend it, same with the Wookies and Kashyykk, and the Gungans and Naboo." Ado Fulsam said with despair on his face.

"By the Forerunners, what does that mean for us?" asked a Brute Honor Guard.

"We are to return to our own battles. The COG will be left to fend for itself just as all of us have to do. We will still have contact with each other but our forces are all splitting up to go back to our own planets. The only exception is the droids, they will be deployed across every battlefield by the millions." Ado said as a Phantom came to pick the 3 up.

Jacob, Francis, and Ahsoka were having their final meeting. They were onboard Francis' flagship and were discussing their plan which was basically to survive. The Alliance of Peace was on its knees and somehow the Locust had aligned itself with the Alliance of War. The Locust, the Insurrectionists, the Storm, and the Sith Empire were beating the Alliance like a punching bag and all the Alliance could do was hope that eventually their enemies would get tired but knew that it wasn't something that could happen realistically. What even furthered the problem was that the Flood had sprung back up on Requiem and the Promethean Warriors and Knights, plus the Librarian and Sentinels all had to return to deal with the Flood.

As Francis returned to Earth, he was met with a pitiful Home Fleet of 10 ONI Prowlers, a few UNAD Frigates, and a couple UEFD Corvettes. All in all there were about 17 ships, only 5 of which were armed with MAC cannons. Francis had only brought with him his flagship, the UNSC Invincible, to Earth. His escort of a couple Thermopylae-class Ultra Super Heavy Cruisers waited in front of the new Home Fleet. As Francis' ship approached the planet, he was notified by Field Marshal James Copper that he was not welcome on Earth.

"Really? So who's going to stop me?" Francis asked.

"... What is it you want Armada Admiral?" Copper asked.

"I need to grab a few things from my home." Francis responded as the Invincible stopped directly in front of the fleet.

Before the Field Marshal could respond a battle-group of 5 Storm Battlecruisers entered the area and targeted the Home Fleet. Francis ordered his ship back towards his escort group of 7 Thermopylae-class Ultra Super Heavy Cruisers and left the Home Fleet to fend for itself. The Battlecruisers didn't dare attack the UNSC ships because they knew they would've lost. The Field Marshal stood in fear seeing the massive enemy ships facing them and begged Armada Admiral Francis to assist.

"Apparently, Earth no longer sees the UNSC fit to defend her and requested all UNSC personnel leave." Francis said.

He hesitated but then transmitted to the enemy ships, "That's far enough unless you want to start a fight with me." Francis said in a transmission to the Storm battle-group.

After the transmission, the Storm forces left the area in a hurry. Francis requested that a NMPD squad accompany him to his home. Scarlett quickly selected a squad and sent them to the hanger bay to link up with Francis later. Francis was wearing his armor and opted to keep it on while he was on Earth.

"Scarlett is the Pelican ready?" Francis asked.

"Yes. An NMPD squad is also awaiting your arrival." Scarlett said.

"Who's the pilot?" Francis asked as he walked down towards the hanger.

"Captain Maverick." Scarlett said.

"Excellent choice." Francis said upon arrival at the hanger bay.

The NMPD squad was waiting outside the Pelican and were all holding SMGs and had a pistol as their secondary. They quickly saluted Francis as he came towards the Pelican. He saluted back and asked if Maverick was ready, he responded that he was and the team boarded the Pelican Gunship. Once onboard, Francis asked how long it would take before arriving at his old home.

"About 10 minutes, assuming the UNAD and UEFD don't try to kill us." Maverick said.

"Sir, what happened to the UNAD and UEFD? Why'd they go rogue?" one of the NMPD officers asked.

"Power, they saw the UNSC as a threat and had the media back them up with it. They and the population requested that all UNSC forces and sympathizers leave Earth. Now their under constant attacks from Insurrectionists." Francis said loading his Battle Rifle.

The rest of the trip was very casual, the troops would talk to each other and Francis occasionally would explain about what happened to the Alliance. Francis was especially awestruck when he learned that the Alliance's defensive lines were breached and the the enemy had been so vicious in the attacks. When the Pelican arrived, the NMPD were the first ones out followed by Francis. Once they were all out Maverick took the Pelican back up in the air and went into defensive mode. The NMPD cleared the house and Francis accessed the secret area. He took 4 of the 10 officers down the secret hatchway with him and they saw a small safe. It was a basic safe about 12 feet away from their current position.

"You guys should stay here. Scarlett disable all security measures." Francis said.

He advanced towards the safe and picked it up. It was roughly the size of a large toaster and was really light. Francis and the NMPD officers returned back up to the house and saw UNAD troops outside the house. The other NMPD officers were taking cover awaiting instructions from Francis.

"Sir, permission to engage?" asked one of the officers.

Francis didn't respond but rather just walked out of his home carrying the safe. The UNAD troops immediately shot at Francis and the bullets just bounced off of Francis' armor.

"Engage." he said.

The NMPD officers killed the attackers and proceeded towards Francis. Francis congratulated the escorts on their job well done as Francis and the rest returned to the Pelican. As they were flying off, they noticed the UNAD and UEFD headquarters under heavy attack by UNSC forces. Then Francis ordered Maverick to fire a couple rockets at the top floor of the UNAD building. He obliged and was ordered to do the same at the UEFD building. Francis watched as his troops quickly put down the rebellious forces and commented, "Some people need to learn, knowledge is power but power isn't knowledge."

As his forces were carried off back to the Invincible, Francis landed in the ships hanger and went to the bridge. He opened the safe and much to everyone's surprise contained the complete Janus Key and a data pad containing designs for new ships, he transferred all the data from the Janus Key into the star map. Suddenly, Scarlett noted at least 50 areas that contained Forerunner technology being relatively close to Reach. Francis then sent his ships certain areas that he wanted them to go to in order to retrieve the artifacts. When the Librarian learned of this she quickly wondered why Francis was doing this now to which he responded:

"Something tells me the enemy is amassing something so much more powerful than the entire UNSC fleet. Even with our allies' help."

The Librarian then stated that the Mantle of Responsibility was now in the hands of Humanity and that she does not oppose the strengthening of the current fleet. She then stated that due to the Didact's misconception of the Mantle, many weapons on the ships were destroyed along with navigation systems. She then stated:

"Only the armor, engines, and shielding remains on majority of those ships."

"We'll take what we can get, beggars can't be choosers." Francis said.


	6. Drastic Counter-Measures

A Loving Hope Chronicles

The InterDimensional War

Drastic Counter-Measures

As Ahsoka, Angel, Erebos, and Appo were talking, Francis contacted them to check up on his allies. They told Francis that they were managing but with each day they lost more ground. They asked how Francis and his forces were doing and were sad to hear that he wasn't fairing much better.

"I'm losing more and more ships each day. I went from about 1.5 million to just 750,000 in a matter of weeks. I see just how badly we underestimated our adversaries." Francis said.

He then ended the call with the Republic leaders and contacted Marcus. He was glad that the COG was doing good and that they were managing a lot better than the other two allies. He was also glad to hear that the ships were finished and they had about 4-5 million troops trained thanks to the Kamino cloning assistance. They had about 2,000 ships that could each carry around 2,500 troops and about 3 armor platoons. The ships were black with blue lights outlining it, it was similar to the tips of spears and had a long, slim metal material that could pop forwards and be used to ram into enemy ships. The ships primary weapon was a HoD beam and a couple Light-mass bomb pods. The had mounted Centaur cannons as point defense cannons. The ships followed the Republic's design for having an elevated bridge towards the back of the ship and had little hangers. The ships were roughly 500 meters in length and 112 meter in height. Their shape was similar to an oval. The design was very good for a 1st-generation ship.

As Francis finished viewing the video of the COG fleet engaging Locust forces, he ended the call with Marcus and proceeded to go over the designs for the addition to his fleet. He asked Scarlett how much longer until the excavation parties return with all the materials to which she responded:

"One week until all supplies are retrieved."

He then asked how long it would take for the new ships to be created and Scarlett said if he utilized his entire fleet into doing it, it would take a little over half a month. She then warned that doing so would leave many areas undefended. Sadly, Francis was hard pressed for time and decided to do exactly that. He returned to his quarters and saw that Gabby was in there. She was reinstated recently as a Commodore but had no ship to command. The Mother of Invention was recently destroyed during the UNSC's engagement with the Storm. He noticed that the Twilight Inspiration still had no CO and opted to give it to her.

"Gabby, wake up." Francis said as he gently nudged her shoulder.

"Mhhh... Ugh!" Gabby responded.

"That's my angel... Listen I'm giving you command of a ship." Francis said.

"Really... You couldn't wait for me to wake up to tell me that? You had to interrupt my sleep?" Gabby said as she sat up.

"Sorry." Francis said guiltily.

"It's alright, which ship did you have in mind?" she asked eagerly.

"The Twilight Inspiration. The second most powerful ship in the fleet. By taking it though, you take command of the 1st Fleet of War. Here's a list of all the ships under it." he said handing her the data pad.

UNSC Navy

1st Fleet of War

All Ships

1- Thermopylae-class Ultra Super Heavy Cruiser

2- Ragnarok-class Ultra Super Heavy Dreadnoughts

10- Vanguard-class Heavy Battleships

5- Valiant-class Ultra Heavy Cruisers

10- Marathon-class Heavy Cruisers

20- Apollo-class Medium Cruisers

30- Halcyon-class Light Cruisers

50- Lancer-class Ultra Super Heavy Destroyers

100- Gorgon class Super Heavy Destroyers

15- Remembrance-class Ultra Super Heavy Frigate

25- Paris-class Heavy Frigate

25- Stalwart-class Medium Frigate

25- Charon-class Light Frigate

10- Charon-class Light Frigate ( )

Total: 328 ships. (Three-hundred and twenty eight ships)

"So does this mean I don't sleep here anymore?" Gabby asked.

"Yeah. John, Cortana, Jake, Miranda, Michael, and Kelly all went back to their battle-group. Your battle-group was destroyed by Storm forces." Francis said.

"Oh, okay." Gabby said with grief on her face.

"What? What's wrong?" Francis asked.

"I didn't know my battle-group was destroyed." Gabby said.

"Oh, I uh... I'm sorry baby, but things happen. You should really take the new fleet though, your the only Commodore in the UNSC and you don't have a single ship under you." Francis said.

"Okay, can you help me pack my things?" she asked.

"Sure." Francis said.

As the pair packed all of Gabby's stuff, a couple marines were waiting outside to carry them to the Pelican. Francis told them it wasn't necessary and dismissed them. They went off and Francis and Gabby left carrying all Gabby's stuff. All in all it was about 2 large crates of stuff, one for her armor and the other for personal stuff. Francis carried all of it down to the hanger with Gabby following beside him. When they reached the hanger, he loaded the stuff and sent Gabby off. They hugged goodbye she left the Invincible. When she arrived on the Twilight Inspiration, she had two marines ready to carry her belongings to her quarters. When they arrived, she began setting her things up, this ship had so many memories for her and Francis. Hope was conceived here, in this very room. The ships XO entered her room and surprisingly it was Commander Sarah Palmer. She welcomed Gabby and said she knew of all the contributions Gabby had made to the UNSC. she laughed saying she was just doing her job and the two began to chat more.

"So, your the new CO, I'm glad to be your XO. I've never served under a CO who fought in so many pivotal battles and lived!" Sarah said.

"Haha, trust me its not as amazing as you think." Gabby said.

"Nonetheless, I'm always here if you need me, ma'am." Sarah said as she saluted and went off.

Francis was examining his ship and noticed that it had many unguarded areas and many open areas not being used for anything. He ordered to have 25 Mini-MACs stationed there for ship-to-ship engagement. She requested that Scarlett get it done as soon as possible. She said she could get it done in a couple hours if she had a couple frigates carry the Mini-MACs.

"Do it." he said.

Suddenly frigates began flying around his ship carrying the weapons around. Within the next few hours of installation time Francis opted to sleep. He was very stressed about everything and took whatever time to sleep that he could. When he awoke, he saw Scarlett's avatar on the holo pad in his room.

"Is it done?" he asked.

"Yes, Mini-MACs installed." Scarlett said proudly.

"Good job." he responded.

Just as the frigates broke off back to their designated areas, a fleet of 2,000 Storm SuperCarriers arrived right outside Francis' fleet. Though majority of his ships were deployed to gather supplies from the Forerunner artifacts, he still had around 250,000 ships with him. Majority of which were designed for ship-to-ship combat. He ordered each battle-group to target one SuperCarrier at a time. He had 2,000 battle-groups with him and each one was designated to a SuperCarrier. Each battle-group consisted of at least 125 ships in total. Francis took the Invincible against a SuperCarrier on its own, its oversized Archer Pods shooting off at the massive ship, the Gauss-based defense turrets firing all they had at it, the Mass Drivers and Mini-MACs unloading on it, and MAC guns and SMAC guns finally taking it down.

"Status report?" Francis asked to his crew on the bridge.

"No major damage sustained, sir. A few reports on injuries on multiple decks but nothing major." Scarlett said.

"How many SuperCarriers left? What's their status?" Francis asked.

"Majority were destroyed, sir. The remaining ones are retreating, certain battle-groups are requesting permission to follow." Scarlett replied.

"Denied, we have to wait for those materials to come in so we can assemble the new additions to the fleet." Francis said.

He looked and saw many Carriers, Battleships, Cruisers, Destroyers, and Frigates cheering as they saw the remaining SuperCarriers leave. It appeared as if the Storm were slipping up in their strategies and Francis wanted his fleet at full force when they began their counter-attacks. He would clear off the Storm in his area, then in his galaxy, go through the Rupture to assist the Republic and finally to the COG to finish the war already. He decided to turn his attention to the people of the UNSC. He announced that he would be having a press conference that anyone could attend and ask whatever questions they wanted without fear of persecution.

He had the new Top Brass of the UNSC accompany him, it included Gabrielle Walford, John Halsey, Cortana Halsey, Jacob Preston, Miranda Keyes, Michael Halsey, and Kelly Halsey. The other members were Admiral Preston, the father of Jake, Fleet Admiral Harper, Dr. Catherine Halsey, and a few scientists that were in charge of the new ships project. They met on the surface of the Reach and around 15,000 civilians were in attendance to present their questions.

"Is it true your building new ships to add to the fleet?" asked a random civilian.

"Yes it is, ma'am." Francis responded.

"When will you start building homes for us? We have sufficient supplies but what about shelter?" the same woman asked.

"Ma'am, we may have a large fleet, but remember quality over quantity. Our manpower is extremely effective and efficient but our ships are, sad to say, become outdated. We won't be cutting any ships from the fleet but we must add to it if we hope to be able to counter the rising Insurrectionist threats. As for your homes, perhaps some of the citizens not in the UNSC could build your homes, it doesn't have to be luxurious since no one has to work other than us. We will provide the materials and, if possible, we will also send in workers." Francis responded.

"What was the reasoning for the attack on the UNAD and UEFD headquarters?" a male civilian asked.

"During the years of the Insurrectionist Wars, the UNSC at the time didn't consider the Insurrection forces as a threat. We can't repeat that mistake. As for why we attacked the UNAD and UEFD, imagine if the Insurrection had added forces from the two traitors. They wouldn't be able to defeat us but more unnecessary deaths would occur." John said.

"We aren't saying we were happy to do it but to avoid future confrontations and complications, it was decided by the Top Brass to "cut the head from the snake". The UEG doesn't oppose our decisions but aren't reprimanding us for our actions against the two organizations." Francis said.

"Brigadier General Michael Halsey, how do you feel about all of this?" asked a reporter.

"In all honesty, I'm hurt. It's either loyalty or morality, I chose my morals and the welfare of others. I took all the Praetorians who would agree with me and left the UNAD. John did the same with his Spartans, sadly for both of us there are some close people who wouldn't see the truth. I can't say I'm 100% to backup the UNSC against the UNAD and UEFD or that I'm completely on their side but it comforts me knowing that what I'm doing is right." Michael said with despair.

"Where did the tension even start?" asked another random civilian.

"When the former president and Top Brass were discovered aiding the Storm. The Top Brass is comprised of only UNSC officers, officers I've served under and entrusted my life to for a long amount of time but I put my morals above my feelings and had them imprisoned. The president was in a position of power that commanded the UNAD. When I executed him, I was following UEG laws that terrorism, from any individual will be met with execution, but it conflicted with the UNAD's code of conduct. Questioning the Top Brass is also against the UNSC's code of conduct but I believe that the meanings are never set in stone." Francis replied.

"At first, we all understood the UNAD's reasoning for attack us but when they persisted to do so even after they agreed to cease fire, that's when Armada Admiral Francis had to lay down the law. The UEFD is sadly forced to be on the UNAD's side. They are sworn to protect Earth from any adversary and I commend them for standing by their duties because they are still within reason. They only got aggressive towards us when battles against the UNAD started, other than that their troops would act accordingly to us. As much as we'd like to not attack them, we have to defend ourselves. I can see in each UEFD soldier's face when they attack us that they know their wrong. We all see it but sadly, we have to fight back. In essence the UNAD has taken the UEFD captive and forces them to attack us." Gabby said.

"It's true, since we are no longer an Earth branch of defense when the UNAD attacks us the UEFD is bound to aid them. Much to all of our resentments to not attack UEFD headquarters, we saw it as necessary. Since then many UEFD soldiers have defected and are combating the UNAD. Sadly, such actions are terrorism and the UEG deals with them as so. Since the UEG has no elected president, the UNAD elected their highest ranking member to temporary office. He then declared Marshal Law. The Senate, Congress, and Judicial Courts have been relieved of duty and Earth is currently under a dictatorship type of government." Cortana stated.

"Wow, the UNSC is really nose deep in some crazy stuff, huh." said a male in the crowd.

"Not to mention war with the Storm, and 2 InterDimensional wars as well. The Alliance of Peace is in a state of disarray and so is every individual member of the Alliance." Miranda and Kelly said.

As the conference ended, Francis ordered his ships to drop down the necessary supplies for the people to use in building of their temporary homes. He contacted the Traxus and Sinoviet construction companies and asked if they were ready. They responded that combined they had a work for of 2-3 billion people and all they needed was transportation to the construction site. Francis was glad to hear this and also to hear afterwards that all ships had returned carrying all the Forerunner technology. He immediately ordered for his Phoenix-class colony ships that weren't in military use to go and pick up the workers. Something around 5,000 ships departed from the area escorted by all Stalwart-class Frigates in Francis' personal fleet, a total of 700. The fleet arrived without opposition and proceeded to pick all the workers up. Each worker had a oxygen suit on that would allow them to remain in space for six hours before needing to resupply the suit so it could maintain function.

"Armada Admiral Francis, this is Captain Rogers. We will return in half an hour, sir." Francis heard over his bridge's intercom.

His ships that were carrying Forerunner technology set all of the broken down pieces of it on a, previously cloaked, gigantic work station. As soon as the last piece was set down all the workers arrived on the megastructure and immediately got to work. With the Frigates handling the heavy lifting, the bases of the ships were all constructed. Around 5,000 bases were constructed within the first day. Each ship base had around 610,000 workers assigned to it and around 50 frigates assigned to do heavy lifting on it.

"Scarlett, give me a rough projection of when it'll all be done." Francis said.

"Originally a little over half a month but since we're using skilled construction workers and UNSC personnel I'll have to recalculate. We would've finished in about half a month if we used only UNSC personnel numbered at 500 million only but adding an extra 3 billion workers skilled in the profession would mean completion in one week or less. Earliest date for completion is in three days and latest is next week." Scarlett said.

"Good, have all SMAC platforms orbit the structure and cloak it again. Only Frigates assigned to do heavy lifting duty are allowed to be in there. Cut all communication between those ships and the rest of the fleet besides us." Francis said.

"Yes, sir." Scarlett responded.

"Commodore Walford, take your fleet to Earth and defend her along with Fleet Admiral Preston. Ms. Walford your in charge, if you require reinforcements just contact us." Francis said.

"Aye, aye sir." the Commodore said.

Fleet Admiral Preston led a fleet of 400 Marathon-class Heavy Cruisers, 1,600 Lancer-class Heavy Destroyers, and 4,800 Paris-class Heavy Frigates. A total of 6,800 ships all meant for planetary defense. Although, the ships under construction would be able to combat both fleet officer's combined fleets and win.

"Sir, in coming transmission from Admiral Preston Cole. He says Captain Cutter and his battle-group have engaged multiple Storm ships above Requiem. He request that we send reinforcements." Scarlett said to him.

"Tell Fleet Admiral Harper to assist." Francis said.

"Aye, sir." Scarlett responded.

Harper led about 100 Apollo-class Light Cruisers, and 500 Paris-class Frigates. Francis was hoping that it would be enough to defeat the Storm forces above Requiem. To be sure, he sent an extra 200 Gorgon-class Super Heavy Destroyers as back up. He was right to do so, the Storm had wasted no time in gathering a formidable enough fleet.

"Scarlett, how much would it cost in order to complete all ships by tomorrow?" Francis asked.

"Everyone enlisted in the fleet currently here would have to work hard from now until 12:00 p.m. If my calculations are correct and all current ships assist we will be done by tomorrow afternoon, sir." Scarlett said.

"Do it." Francis said.


	7. More Ruptures, Different Circumstances

A Loving Hope Chronicles

The InterDimensional War

More Ruptures, Different Circumstances

As Fleet Admiral Shepard looked upon his new fleet, he was glad to see that there were finally 100,000 Alliance ships in the fleet. He was promoted to the rank of Fleet Admiral after he found a way to turn the Reavers into allies for the Alliance without sacrificing himself. He had a perfect girlfriend, Miranda Lawson and his top officer was Ashley Williams. So much had happened over the course of the war, he went from Commander to Fleet Master. Shepard snapped out of the illusion and heard one of his lieutenants calling out for him.

Sir, we've detected the Rupture. It appears to lead to another dimension, awaiting your orders." the LT. said.

"Shepard, we should go through. Leave the other fleets to do some work for once." Ashley and Miranda said as they entered the bridge.

"Alright, tell my fleet to follow. Besides, the Reapers should be able to defend the planet well enough." he said.

When they all exited, Shepard was shocked.

"Battle formations!" he screamed out.

All of his cruisers saw a gigantic ship that looked as if it would be able to wipe all of them out easily. They saw other large ships around it but not as large. The Systems Alliance Frigates were roughly the size of a UNSC Corvette, Light Cruiser was the size of a UNSC Destroyer, the Alliance Dreadnoughts were about the size of a Halcyon-class Light Cruiser, and the Carriers were the size of a Phoenix-class Colony Ship. There were only 3 Carriers in Shepard's fleet, his own, and two escorts. He did have 10,000 ships after all. As his ships assumed battle formations, on the other side none of the ships did anything.

"Sir, the ships aren't doing anything. Their just sitting there except those four. Their moving around and trying to communicate with the rest. Orders?" Miranda asked.

"Try to establish communication." Shepard said.

Francis and his crew were finishing up the last of the ships when they came through. As they finished the last one, he received a distress call from Scarlett.

"Sir, unknown contacts right outside. We need everyone back now."

"On our way." he responded. "Everyone, return to your ships ASAP. Unknown contact, battle stations!" Francis yelled over the intercoms in everyone's suit.

As the Systems Alliance saw the vast amount of people heading back to the ships, they wondered if they were hostile or not. Shepard was still awaiting a response to his reach out of communications. As Francis stepped onto the Invincible's bridge, he ordered for all ships to prepare weapons. Shepard was notified of this and was getting extremely nervous. Scarlett luckily informed Francis of the communication attempt and he replied.

"This is Armada Admiral Francis Halsey of the UNSC, stand down. You are in UNSC controlled space." Francis said once the communications opened and as all previously dispatched ships returned to rejoin the fleet.

"Sir, were counting at least 750,000 ships in total. No way we even stand a chance." Ashley said.

"This is Fleet Admiral Shepard of the Systems Alliance, we mean you no harm. We discovered this Rupture and decided to explore."

"Oh, let me guess, you just came through and don't know exactly where the Rupture came from?" Francis said.

"Yeah, how did you know?" Shepard responded.

"We won't attack, we've been seeing these things happen all day. Come aboard and we can talk. Trust me, we've been through this twice already." Francis said.

As both sides disarmed their weapons, the Systems Alliance fleet came closer. The flagship moved to dock with the Invincible but for precaution, Shepard donned his N7 armor and advised Miranda and Ashley to be prepared for anything. He had several Alliance Marines also with him for back up. When the hatch opened, they saw Francis in his armor, and his 7 other all clad in armor. There were also several other troops with armor but none had any weapons. Shepard told his people to stand down and put their weapons away. They stepped towards the strangers and noticed all they did was smile.

"They don't look surprised, that's for sure." Ashley said to Miranda.

"They did mention going through this twice already, probably used to the whole thing already." she responded.

As Shepard and Francis came face to face, everyone behind them just stared. Francis was checking to see if there was anything unusual about them and same with everyone else on his side. Surprisingly, they were 100% human from what they could tell so far.

"Hello." Francis started.

Eventually, the group came to start a meeting. Asking each other about things back on their dimension. They were bonding and looking for differences.

"So, what exactly is the Systems Alliance?" Francis asked.

"It's a united force of Humans, Reapers, Quarians, Asari, Salarians, Turians, Krogans, and Geths. The Krogans, Geths, and Reapers were all our enemies before, but I united all of them to fight the Reapers. During the final battle, I managed to assume control of the Reapers and now, we have established peace." Shepard said proudly.

"So what is the UNSC?" Ashley asked.

"Similar to your Systems Alliance, its a sub-faction to a larger picture. We also have included races that used to be our enemies to it. There are those who oppose it though, we are at war with the Alliance for War. It's an inter-dimensional war were fighting and sad to say, we are on the losing end of it, for now. The Republic, one of the members of the Alliance for Peace, also has sub-divisions in it as well. We all assisted each other in fighting each other's enemies but, our adversaries all united." Cortana said.

"How fascinating! We never thought of other dimensions." Miranda said.

"I agree, what other allies do you have other than the Republic?" Shepard asked.

"The COG, it stands for the Coalition of Ordered Governments. So far, their doing the best out of all Alliance members. The UNSC funded and supplied them with the necessary resources to construct a fleet." Gabby said.

"So, Humanity is at war and facing extinction, many oppose your alliance and you aren't on the winning end of the rope at the moment?" Shepard said.

"To put it bluntly, yes." John said.

"Where do we sign up?" Shepard asked.

"You just said you found peace, why throw it all away to enter a war that doesn't even concern you?" Kelly asked.

"It's not sensible. I highly suggest you reconsider." Jake said.

"I agree, enjoy the peace while it lasts." Michael said.

"The Systems Alliance was created in order to protect other races. Your humans, we have the exact same history except for the past century for us and past 5 centuries for you. Humans are part of the Systems Alliance, your humans so therefore we are under oath to aid you. Your allies are helping you to survive, so they're helping the Systems Alliance." Miranda said.

"Don't you get it, we have to help. You've gone through centuries of war, we've been through a couple decades of war. Let us help you find peace also." Ashley said.

"The purpose for war is not to find peace, but resolution. From what I've learnt, helping save other races is a hell lot better than watching the "good guys" get defeated. Besides, if you lose your enemies are going to eventually come here. We don't want to face all of them alone." Shepard said.

Francis hesitated to let them join, not because he didn't trust them but because he would be taking away their peace, something he had fought all his life for. "Fine, but only because we need all the help we can get." he spoke out.

Francis then called for Marcus and Ahsoka to meet him at the UNSC's main Rupture, the first they discovered. He requested that the highest members and military leaders from the Republic come along. He also requested for the Covenant Separatists to come and bring their highest ranking officials and military leaders. Ahsoka brought herself, her best Jedi Masters, the Clone council, Mandalorian council, Republic council, Gungan council, Wookiee council, Quaren council, Mon Calamari council, Durge, Gen'Dai council, and Pirate council.

Marcus brought himself, Anya, the 4 Carmine brothers, Sofia Hendricks, Samantha Byrne, General Hoffman, General Loomis, Colonel Minh, the top Onyx Guard officers, Alicia Valera, all surviving members of Delta squad, and also Zeta Squad. Basically, the top badasses in the COG.

Francis invited surviving high ranking officers of the UEFD , the UEG's senate and congress, and even the UNAD staff. Several ONI members were also in attendance and also Dr. Halsey. She was reluctant to go but attended to see the new additions. The Librarian also came along with the officers of the Promethean Warriors.

Thel and the other Separatists leaders brought their war councils that would've shown up to to the old United Council. The entire council would be filled by 500 people. The Systems Alliance also sent its representatives over to the side of Shepard. Miranda and Ashley remained with Shepard for the meeting. The Systems Alliance noticed how the other members were all arguing as to who would supply the guards for the meeting. Apparently, it was a very serious matter and everyone wanted to do it.

"Please, everyone. Your in UNSC controlled space, we will station the Titans as our guards for the night. Spartan-IVs, FreeLancers, and Praetorians will support them." Francis said. "Now, shall we start this meeting?" he asked as he sat down into his chair.

"What is the purpose for this meeting Titan?" asked Thel Vadam.

"Primarily, to discuss our war plan. I have altered my version of it so that the UNSC will be able to aid everyone else sooner. Secondly, to introduce our newest allies, the Systems Alliance." Francis said.

"Where they from?" asked the Grunt leader Yayap.

"They come from another dimension. The Systems Alliance is similar to the Covenant Empire in structure, one group comprised of several species. They offer their aid to help end this war." Cortana said.

"Do we catalogue them?" the Librarian asked.

"Catalogue?" Shepard asked to Francis.

"She takes a sample of each of your member species' DNA to see if they match what the Forerunners have." Francis said.

"Oh, how do you get our DNA?" Miranda asked.

"From a removable part of your body. For humans it would be hair. I don't know for the other species, maybe a blood sample." Miranda Keyes said.

"Wait, can we get back to the war? Francis what's your new revised plan?" Ahsoka asked.

"Basically, I've developed a new fleet of 5,000 ships. I've added bits and pieces of Forerunner technology and I believe them to be strong enough to speed the war up to an end soon. Secondly, ONI will be given my fleet except for the ships with the 'Ultra Super Heavy' title, all others will be given to them and split up for their FreeLancer commanders to use. Same goes for the UEFD, they will receive 250,000 ships and the UNAD will as well. I'll still have control over all the ships but they will be serving under the other commanders." Francis said.

"I have hand selected 4,000,000 of the best UNSC personnel that served under to operate the new ships. The personnel for these ships will be issued any MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor they please. Whether it be Mark IV or Gen. 2 they will receive it, however it has to be a complete set, no mixing of armor and also it has to be relevant to the individuals job. So for example, I'm a Marine assigned to security, I can pick whichever generation Security armor I desire, if I'm naval personnel I can pick E.V.A armor or maybe the Pilot variant." Francis added.

"So how many ships will be directly under you?" asked Erebos.

"Exactly 12,882 ships." Francis replied.

"What's the classification for the ships?" asked Marcus.

"One is the Enforcer-class Cruiser and the other is the Retribution-class Frigate. There are 1,000 of the Cruisers and 4,000 Frigates. Each Cruiser has 4 frigates attached to it." Francis said.

"Is that all we will discuss at his meeting?" Ripa Barutam asked.

"Well, all information on the Systems Alliance is on a data pad that each of you will receive on the way out so I guess were done here, meeting adjourned." Francis said.

As the council departed, Shepard caught up wi Francis to discuss a few more things. The two chatted about how each others fleet could compliment each other. He explained the ships he had and how they could assist Francis' new fleet. Francis then asked for a report on the ships in Shepard's fleet. He handed him a report on them but Francis said he'd prefer a live fire test.

"There's a little Insurrectionist scavenging party, about 10 Frigates and 1 Phoenix-class Colony ship. Take one Carrier and 25 Frigates with you, I'll accompany you to see how it goes." Francis said.

"Alright." Shepard said.

He took the ships that Francis picked out and they left with him. For safe measure Francis brought 2 Paris-class Heavy Frigates in case the Alliance ships lost. He stood in the back of Shepard's flagship and watched his ships do their job. The Frigates separated into wolf packs and began hunting down the larger Frigates of the Insurrection. Shepard's cruiser targeted the command ship and began blasting away at it. The power of the Cruisers Mass Accelerator was similar to one and a half Mass Drivers but it fired at a much more constant rate than the UNSC's MACs. The Frigates were armed with a similar version of the Mass Accelerator but it was only as powerful as a Mini-MAC. He then guessed that the Heavy Cruisers would have a Mk. I version MAC which was no longer in use by the UNSC.

"Your Frigates have quite the armament of weapons, but watch this." Francis said as he ordered his Heavy Frigates to fire their Mk. II MACs.

"Escort team Alpha, engage the enemy." Francis ordered.

"Acknowledged." said a bridge officer.

As he responded, Francis, Shepard, and his crew watched as the two Heavy Frigates were enough to knock down the command ship with ease. Shepard was impressed by the strength of the MAC gun but also noted that its cool down time plus its reload time was inefficient. Nonetheless, all Systems Alliance personnel marveled at what Francis said were his least powerful ships.

"Target destroyed, sir." the bridge officer said.

"Good job." he responded as Shepard ordered his cruiser to take down the remaining enemy frigates.

When they returned to Earth controlled space, Shepard and Francis were talking about the previous engagement. Miranda had been walking with the two men and was constantly laughing saying that the two sounded like little school girls talking about a cute boy in their class. Francis laughed at her comment whereas Shepard responded.

"You know from experience?" he said.

Before she could retaliate, Ashley walked by stating, "Yeah, first time she came on the Normandy and I talked with her it was about you." Ashley said as she laughed and walked on by.

Francis commented on how the two looked good together. The two thanked him and soon after Francis left to return to his ship. Francis decided that ultimately, Shepard and the Systems Alliance couldn't assist him in anyway because they would be better combating the enemies on their own. Shepard accepted and his fleet was about to begin deployment.

"Ashley, can I have a list of all ships in the fleet?" he asked.

"Certainly, sir." Ashley replied.

-Systems Alliance-

-Alliance Navy-

-1st Offensive Fleet-

3- Einstein-class Carriers

12- Kilimanjaro-class Dreadnoughts

48- Everest-class Battleships

192- Alliance Destroyers

768- Alliance Heavy Cruisers

3072- Alliance Light Cruisers

12282- Alliance Frigates

Total: 16383 ships.

"Alright, were a bit larger than Francis' fleet." Miranda said.

"Yeah, but his ships have shielding, more armor, better armor, better armaments, more armaments, and not to mention his ships dwarf our ships." Ashley said.

"True, but we aren't warring against each other, were warring beside each other." Shepard said.

"Contact the Armada Admiral, I need to ask him a few things." Shepard said to his communications officer.

"Right away, sir." he responded.

As the monitor flickered to life, he saw a clone trooper in black armor looking at him. They examined each other and were curious about each other's past.

"Clone General Erebos?" Shepard spoke.

"Fleet Admiral Shepard, sir." Erebos said as he saluted.

"I'm looking for Armada Admiral Francis, do you know where he is?" Shepard responded.

"He and his family are currently at a viewing, its for all the innocent lives that were killed during the war. He left me in charge of this area temporarily, sir." Erebos said.

"Oh, well I need the roster as to where our ships are going to go. Do you happen to know where it is?" Shepard asked.

"Yes, sir. He made sure that you receive it, I'm sending it to you now." Erebos said.

"Alright, thank you General." Shepard responded.

As Shepard received the coordinates that Francis had assigned him, he immediately began grouping ships together into battle-groups. There were 200 total areas the Systems Alliance was assigned, 150 were going to be completely Systems Alliance sectors and 50 were just for reinforcements. Shepard assured Francis that the Alliance Marines were strong enough to hold their own against the enemies.

"All ground forces be ready for deployment in 2-4 hours. We have to prove to the rest of our new allies that we aren't helpless, we need to prove that we are powerful, cunning, lethal, and valuable allies." Shepard said to his troops through the intercoms and com-links.


	8. The Bigger They Are

A Loving Hope Chronicles

The InterDimensional War

The Bigger They Are

Jul 'Mdama, the Sith Lord, and the 3 Locust leaders met on Jul's ship. They were discussing their plans once more before setting it in effect. They informed the Locust leaders of how the plan started and how it came to be where it is now.

"When the original Alliance of Peace formed, it was too much for both of us alone. We set aside our differences in order to beat back the Alliance. Our military was much stronger than their's but our morale was low, the Alliance's morale was extremely high. We decided it to be better to let them have their moment and even raise them higher in morale, so high that they believed themselves to be unstoppable. Then, we struck back. We destroyed the Alliance's defensive lines in both dimensions and stopped all their offensive strikes. Now, our morale is higher than ever and they are in the dust. We have forced, the once mighty giants, into a full on retreat and everlasting defense." Jul 'Mdama said.

"The Alliance now has its hands tied, they cannot risk sending troops out in order to aid each other because their territories are also being invaded. Their newest addition to the Alliance, the Systems Alliance is very formidable. So far they have been able stop our offensive attempts and even hold defensive lines. On the ground, they butcher our troops and the various races in the Systems Alliance seem to keep their numbers infinite." the Sith Lord said.

"As for Armada Admiral Francis, he has been quite resilient. He has amassed a new fleet forged with Forerunner artifacts and, sad to say, has pushed us back once again. Sadly, my Storm forces are being defeated by the combined might of the UEG forces, Forerunner and Promethean forces, the Separatists, and Systems Alliance forces. I have to admit that Storm forces will have to retreat out of the galaxy." Jul said to the Sith Lord.

"Unacceptable, the combined might of the Clone, Mandalorian, and Republic forces have been able to link with each other and have been pressing against the Sith Empire since. They liberated all Republic Alliance home worlds and have returned to their original strength. Very soon we will have to retreat, even with Storm assistance." the Sith Lord said.

"Locust forces will not be able to take Sera unless we receive support to take down the COG fleet, but even then the COG ground units remain too powerful for the Locust now." RAAM said.

"Also, the COG ships are too powerful, they might be able to hold off any assistance until one of their allies arrive. Perhaps we should break this Alliance off and hope that the Alliance for Peace slaughters us quickly." Skorge said.

"I agree, we have no chance of succeeding if the Alliance is successful in joining up again. We will all fall either way." Karn said.

"If we dissolve the Alliance then our adversaries will just join together and target us, we have no chance surviving alone." the Sith Lord said.

Before anyone could answer, a group of Promethean Warriors, Onyx Guards, Titans, Spartan-IVs, FreeLancers, Praetorians, HellJumpers, Stealth Elite Majors, SpecOps Elites, Brute Stalkers, Jackal Specialists, Skirmisher Commandos, Drone Ultras, Grunt SpecOps, Hunter kill teams, Jedi Masters, all kinds of Dark Troopers, Alphas and Shadow Alphas, Nulls and Shadow Nulls, Rail-Arcs and Shadow Rails, Commandos and Shadow Commandos, Arcs and Shadow Arcs, Terror Troopers, Senate Commandos, Magna Guards, Commando Droids, Assassin Droids, Clone Assassins, other members of the CommandoOps Brigade, and Systems Alliance Galactic Commandos uncloaked inside the room. Then, one of the Titans spoke out to the leaders of the enemy Alliance.

"You are all under arrest, for crimes against the Alliance." said the Titan.

Then two Emperor's Shadow Guards bursted into the room but were easily killed by the Promethean Warriors. The Sith Lord tried to attack but the Jedi Masters quickly restrained him. Jul looked outside to see the combined Sith Empire/Storm fleet get obliterated by the combined might of the entire Alliance of Peace. The battle that followed suit was glorious, then all of a sudden Jul snapped out of the crazy hallucination.

"That is what will happen if we don't stop the Alliance. Sadly, we cannot view any of the events that lead up to that, only the final moments of this war." the Sith Lord said.

"How can we stop it?" Jul asked.

"I don't know, all I know is if we don't we will slowly watch our Alliance crumble." the Sith Lord said.

Fleet Admiral Shepard, Armada Admiral Francis Halsey, Chairman Marcus Fenix, and Grand Master Ahsoka Tano all had their own forces ready to link up with each other. The other members of the Alliance were all going to be called in when they were ready. Marcus and the COG forces were the first to arrive at the rendezvous point. The COG had decided to amass different types of ships, they had Cruisers, Siege Cruisers, Frigates, and Missile Frigates. He took the time to develop a a regular fighter and a heavy fighter. Sadly, they were not able to finish development for their Carriers because the Locust had launched an attack of elite troops. Chairman Fenix deployed 500 of the elite Onyx Guards in order to aid COG forces and was awaiting a report back from them. The Locust sent Therons, Bolters, Cyclopses, Ragers, Grenadier Elites, Boomers, Kantus', and Berserkers to recover the anything that would prove useful to the COG.

The COG forces there were completely outmatched, they were able to put up a fight for a long time but by the time the Onyx Guard reinforcements had arrived, all that was left was a wrecked battlefield littered with bodies of fallen COG soldiers. The King Ravens touched down on the battlefield and Savage Therons sprang up and started attacking the Onyx Guards.

"Defend the Ravens! Show them why were Onyx!" screamed the Captain of the Onyx Guard.

The Onyx Guards with Vulcan Cannons or Mulchers moved up to the front and began slaughtering the Theron warriors as they sprang up from the ground. The Onyx Guards quickly disposed of the Locust forces and decided split up. One half would search the battlefield looking for survivors from the battle and the other half would search for the schematics for the Carriers and see if there are any salvageable materials for the COG to use later. As the other Captain and his half searched for any clues as to what the code for the safe was, the other captain found a couple survivors. They were pretty severely wounded, some of them had bullet wounds and others were too wounded to move. They had to be treated right then and there. Sadly, majority of the survivors died but the ones who did survive wanted to help the Onyx Guards.

"Do you know where the schematics are?" asked the Onyx Guard captain.

"Yes, sir but its locked by a code and I'm the only one who knows it." the Gear said.

"Alright, will you be able to get there yourself or should I send an escort with you?" asked the Captain.

"I'll be alright captain." he responded as he went off.

When he arrived at the area, he was told by several Onyx Guards that he was not allowed to enter the area. They told him that in order to enter the area, he had to be "Onyx".

"Your not Onyx." said one of the Guards.

"I know that, but I'm the only one who knows the codes to get the schematics. I suggest you let me through, sergeant." the Gear said.

The Onyx Guard decided to contact the Captain first, and then permitted the Gear to enter the area. As the Gear entered, he saw a building, almost completely wrecked with troops stationed around and on it. He entered, went to the main office, and finally proceeded to the area that contained the safe. He entered the password in and grabbed the schematics.

"Captain, I have the schematics." the Gear said over the tac/coms.

"Copy, return them to me. I'll have a squad of Onyx Guards escort you here." the Captain said.

A squad of Onyx Guards, Black-1, went with the Gear who had the schematics. On their way back, the King Ravens came and began loading up the Onyx Guards, surviving Gears, and any equipment that was still salvageable. The battlefield was quiet, but it was loud. The Gear knew there weren't any noises being made but felt as if something was coming. He quickly advised that the Onyx Guard Captains and their troops evacuate faster. As Black-1 and the Gear boarded the King Raven, 3 Brumaks emerged about a mile away.

"Captain, we have Brumaks en route to us. I predict a Corpser is nearby, I suggest we leave now before Seeders and Nemacysts come out and block the sky from us leaving." the Gear said.

"Agreed, corporal." said the Captain.

As he said this, all KR units took off in order to avoid the Brumaks' missiles. Luckily, they all got away and only 7 Onyx Guards were lost during the recovery. Black-1 and the Gear began talking amongst each other about the war.

"You know, your status will be changed to Golden Gear, right?" Black-1's sergeant said.

"I have no idea what that is, sir." the corporal responded.

"Golden Gears are the troops that survive battles when majority of their unit was destroyed but they survive, it's an honor. You get a special golden trimming on your armor." said Black-1's sergeant.

"After that, if you do an extremely excellent job while being a Golden Gear, you get nominated to be an Onyx Guard cadet. Then, if you pass, you become Onyx." one of Black-1's members said.

"So, does it matter what kind of armor I have?" the Gear asked.

"Yeah, if you have the Summertime variant of armor then they trim that set. If you have other sets, like the Sniper variant of armor, then you get that trimmed." the Onyx Guard member said.

"Wow, so how do I know if I become a Golden Gear?" asked the corporal as the KR units landed in the helipads on the COG Cargo Ships.

"When the Onyx Guard Captains write up their report on the mission they'll mention all the survivors from the battle and when they mention you, CIC will tell the Chairman and then he'll write a letter to you saying your a Golden Gear." Black-1's sergeant said as he and Black-1 left the Gear.

"What's your name by the way?" asked the Onyx Guard sergeant.

"Dion, Dion Carmine." he responded.

"Well, you have quite the name to live up to, good luck." the Onyx Guard sergeant said.

Anthony, Ben, and Clay were all highly decorated officers, not all in the same status though. Ben was still just a regular Gear but was highly decorated, Anthony was a part of the Commandos and was also highly decorated, and Clay had reached the status of Onyx Guard and was a sergeant for Black-4. Dion was relieved from frontline duty for majority of the 1st Locust War and the Lambent Pandemic due to an injury he had suffered when he engaged the Locust during the Trial of Kilo for suspected treason againts the COG. Dion was eager to jump at any chance to jump back into the fight and finally got his chance. He proceeded to the bridge of the ship and go debriefed on the entire situation. As he was dismissed, he exited the room and was greeted by his 3 brothers. They said that they were glad that he was alright and wondered what had happened to him. They asked about what he did while he was forced to stay at an office job. The brothers then all sat down and listened to each others war stories.


	9. So Close, Yet So Far

A Loving Hope Chronicles

The InterDimensional War

So Close, Yet So Far

As the other ships of the Alliance entered the meeting point, there was a lot of growing tension around the area. The COG's Onyx Guard and the UEG's HellJumpers were heavily at odds with each other. The entire CommandoOps Brigade tried to ease the tension between the two but knew that their tension was greater than that of anything they have ever seen. The Galactic Commandos didn't want to take sides or even say anything on the matter, to the rest of the elite forces of the Alliance the Galactic Commandos were just the new guys.

"What's your take on the infighting Rex?" Fives asked.

"You know me, as long as my soldiers are good I don't care." he responded.

"You know, its only a matter of time before one division from CommandoOps feels as if they have to fight back to them, right? It's almost inevitable that we'll have quarrels amongst ourselves unless the enemy Alliance is in front of them." Fives said.

"Then let's hope those enemies come sooner because the Shadow Commandos are fighting with the Onyx Guards and HellJumpers also." Rex said as he and Fives turned around.

As Rex and Fives ran over to stop the fight, everyone else in the room began trying to break up the fight. Many Gears, Marines, and Clones tried to pull the special forces soldiers off of each other but they wouldn't be easily moved. Francis and Forge walked in with Titans and the group was ordered by Francis to attack everyone. The Titans rushed in and brutally beat everyone in the area who was fighting. A couple HellJumpers were thrown across the room, Onyx Guards were being slammed into walls, and the Shaodw Commandos were being kicked into tables. As all of the troops laid exhausted and bruised, the Titans stood tall and were unscathed.

"Now, is everyone done or should I join in?" Francis asked the group.

There was a silence as the Titans returned to Francis' side and the SpecOps troops formed into their respective platoons. Francis dismissed everyone in the room except for the Shadow Commandos, Onyx Guards, and HellJumpers. He looked onto the troops and saw that they were all badly hurt but Francis didn't care.

"Everyone drop until I return, the Titans are going to be watching you to make sure you don't stop while I'm gone." he said.

As all the troops got to the floor and began doing the push-ups, the Titans just watched and walked around to be certain everyone was doing it. The combatants of the fight were tired and could no longer do push-ups but they knew they had to, after about an hour Francis entered the area again and told them all to get back up. As they got back up, they all took a while to catch their breath and when they finished they were all dismissed by Francis and told if this sort of thing was to happen again he'd give his Titans weapons to use against them. Francis returned to the bridge and was told that the other fleets were beginning to link up with the rest of the fleet.

"Armada Admiral, all ships are accounted for. Your flagship is awaiting your return but before that you have to attend to a final meeting on this station's board room." Scarlett said to him.

"Alright, who will be in attendance?" Francis asked.

"All field commanders and battle-group commanders and higher." she replied.

"Thank you, Scarlett." Francis replied as he walked down the corridors of the station.

Francis arrived last to the meeting and was informed that the enemy alliance had found a rupture and made a new ally. He was also informed that any potential ally that couldve been made in that dimension was gone because their enemies had already wiped the dimension clear of any other life form. Francis was in despair, he had failed to say an entire dimension of life forms from the ruthlessness of their enemies. He also feared what the new additions to the enemies could've been, could they be persuaded to join his cause?

"What do we know about the enemy alliance? Any recordings, photos, intel?" he asked optomistically.

At first, no one dared to answer because they had all seen the video before Francis had arrived but finally Shepard spoke out, "We do, but I'm not so sure if we should show it to you."

"Show me." Francis said as he turned to the screen.

Francis saw a UNAD army marching on one of the planets near the border of the two alliances. Suddenly, a bunch of mysterious looking figres appeared out of thin air and began engaging the UNAD troops. They would vanish before being hit by any of the UNAD's attacks, within minutes the entire UNAD presence in the area was gone. Then the commander of the new enemies walked up to the camera, looked straight into it and said, "We are the Necromongers, and we're coming for you."

After the video, Francis was enraged, he couldn't believe how powerful these new enemies were. They defeated an entire enemy within minutes, they might've even been better than his Titans and every other SpecOps force in the alliance. He then suggested that they shouldn't attack the enemies at this time because they weren't sure how powerful their new adversaries were.

"I suggest all leaders of each race come with me to an interview in the near future to openly warn the public of our new adversaries, i think we've kept more secrets than necessary to our people." Francis said as everyone nodded in agreement.

"So we should probably alert our troops about our most recent plan of action, also show the troops and the media the video." Commodore Walford said.

"Agreed." everyone said as they all returned to their respective ships

As they all announced the new direction that the ALliance was going, a fleet of ships from the enemy alliance (Bellus Alliance) attacked the Pax Alliance. The Bellus fleet outnumbered the Pax fleet nearly 10-1, this shocked Francis because the entire Pax fleet was in attendance and the Bellus fleet was supposed to be smaller than the Pax fleet. Francis turned to Scarlett asking for an answer as to how that many ships were assembled in such a short period of time.

"Sir, it appears that majority of these ships are illusions et they have a solid form." she said baffled.

"Can they damage us if they fired their weapons?" asked Francis.

"Yes." she said as a Plasma Projector fired upon one of the UNAD's ships, easily destroying it.

"Scarlett, teleport all Pax ships to the Ark, direct the Halo Arrays to this location and have them fire upon arrival." he said.

"Yes, sir... Done." she responded within seconds.

Francis looked outside the main window of the ship and saw that he and his allies were all at the Ark. He knew that sooner or later all his ships would have to scramble in order to defend their dimesions from the Bellus Alliance. He was on his way down to the hanger bay so that he could head down to the Ark because he knew that once the Bellus Alliance got to the Ark they would try to capture it and use it to destroy the UEG's forces in the dimension. His wife Gabby was thinking the same thing and was already on her way down with her 1st Heavy Armored Army, she had defensive positions set up already and she had troops and armored platoons waiting to ambush in certain areas. Francis decided to have a couple Covenant Seperatists Purging battalions follow his 32nd Offensive Army to the Ark to defend the control room. Francis looked once again at the combined fleet of the Pax Alliance and told Scarlett to mix battle groups and then send each fleet commander and whatever ships under them to their respective dimensions.

"Sir, I thought you'd want every race to only leave with their own troops, what made you think differently?" asked Scarlett.

"Scarlett, every member of this Alliance formed into one gigantic family. A family isn't a group of people who are related, its not a group of people that love each other... A family is any amount of people who would die for the person next to them regardless of ethnicity, religious belief, political views, or past. To me that's what a family is and I see my brothers and sisters dying for each other everyday and I've never heard one complaint, there's been some in fighting but every family has that." Francis said as he watched his own ships and those of his allies leave to go and defend certain areas of the alliance's territory.

As Francis walked out of the bridge, he pulled on his helmet and was receiving a large amount of questions because not all UEG ships were together. He continued to walk the corridors of the massive ship until he reached the armory, once there he grabbed his battle rifle, DMR, and a SMG. When he lef the armory, Fleet Admiral Shepard contacted him along with Grand Master Tano and Chairman Foreman and they all asked what was going on.

"Scarlett, put me through to all ships. I want everyone to hear this." he said on his way to the SOEIV hanger bay.

"Yes, Aramada Admiral." she replied quickly.

"Hello everyone, this is Armada Admiral Francis Halsey. As most of you may have noticed, I've split up each race's military, I did this on purpose because each of you are each others home and family. It pains me to say this but we have lost this battle... We are outmatched 100 to 1. Even with all of our strength and ingenuity we cannot hope to defeat our adversaires. However, I have been confronted by those who made the Precursors... We have lost this battle, I've examined all of he prophesies that foretold of this event in every race's traditions... We have lost this battle... After reading the last prophesy, i noticed something that was written in all the prophesies regardless of species, it was in Precursor. I had it translated when I was confronted by the Precursors, "Lasmea fahyani abqijdvcx whwqnui"... I know it sounds like jibberish but basically it means, "You make your own destiny". I'm going to tell you all a short story, besides we have about 24 hours before the enemy finds all of us." Francis said as he saw the cameras fly up to give a visual to everyone.

"Go ahead, sir." Scarlett said as she gave the signal for Francis to start.

"The Forerunners had the Precursors all wrong, they weren't evil at all, they were actually far from it... They were desperate. The AnimaConservo the first things created by the Precursors, even before the Forerunners and Humans. The role of the AnimaConservos were to be the holy guardians of life, thought to have been wiped out by the NecroMongers. The AnimaConservos were righteous in their cause to protect all the other races that all once lived together in one galaxy. The AnimaConservos began to question why they were protecting the entire galaxy if there was nothing there to protect it from. The leader of the AnimaConservos, Dux Fide began to question the Precursors. He approached the Precursor king and asked what they were protecting all of life from, the Precursor king said that at the moment nothing, but that not even the Precursors or the AnimaConservos would be able to stop what was coming. Dux Fide was angered that the Precursor king had such little faith in the AnimaConservos and the Precursors. Then it happened, the king died. At the time there was no such thing as death so when this happened the AnimaConservos went ballistic, they began trying to investigate what had happened to the Precursor leader that died. After millenia of investigating and watching as more lifeforms began to die by unknown at the time factors, the AnimaConservos snapped, they thought that another lifefrom had killed the king and they started a rampage killing many forms of life. Though they resisted, they were no match for the AnimaConservos. Within weeks all life other than the Precursors and AnimaConservos were gone. When the Precursors learned of this they sent their forces to restrain the AnimaConservos, they also began creating more lifeforms albeit all different from the previous generation. The Precursors started with the Forerunners, then Humans, and so on. When the AnimaConservos learned of this they began to go on another rampage, killing billions of innocent life. Luckily, the Precursors stopped them and put them on trial. During the trial the leader, Dux FIde concluded that the Precursors created new lifeforms to kill each other and that they would soon use them to annihilate the AnimaConservos. The Presursors were shocked that their first creations, who were thought to have been the perfected versions of them, would think that the Precursors would turn on them. Dux Fide told his forces that they had been used and betrayed by the Precursors and that they had killed their own king in an attempt to make sure they never found out about their plot. Although the Precursors knew exactly what had happened to their king, they were never known to unveil the plot themselves, however this time the Precursors, in order to evade a war with their most loved and adored creations, broke and for the first and only time told their secret to the AnimaConservos. The AnimaConservos received an apology from the Precursors. But the purpose of the AnimaConservos was to protect life. Because of the deceit of the Precursors the AnimaConservos realized what the old king talked about when he said that he nor the Precursors or AnimaConservos would be able to prevent, it was them. The AnimaConservos, or Life Guardians, were overzealous in their cause to protect all life and especially to the Precursor king but only the king knew. The king loved his AnimaConservos too much to dispose of them even though he could've just by explaining to them what he had already saw, and he died before he could warn them. His reason of not warning them when he could was because he knew if he told them they would kill themselves to protect the other lifeforms. Dux Fide was heart-broken upon learning this and knew that it was far too late for killing themselves to do anything. Dux Fide discharged the AnimaConservos and himself from the role of protecting the Mantle and took their rage out on the Precursors and all life. They were too powerful for the Precursors and soon the Precursor Empire was in shambles. As a last ditch effort, they tried to scatter all life into other dimensions in hopes to protect as many lives as they could but unfortunately, the Precursors had left a few in the same dimension. The Forerunners thought that the Precursors were murdering all the lifeforms but were actually saving them. The Forerunners rebelled to the already weakened Precursors, however the Precursors never killed a single Forerunner. The Precursors were working on a final solution to finally kill the newly christened NecroMongers, they were going to use the Flood. However, they had to delay because the Flood, if released without further modifications would try to kill all life and not just the NecroMongers. The Forerunners attacked and wiped out the Precursors before they could finish their work and the Precursors informed the Humans as much as they could before the Forerunners finished them off. The Humans tried to make the Forerunners understand that something bigger could've been going on but they dismissed the Humans. Regardless, the Humans found the Flood and began trying to find a cure. Finally they did but sadly, by then the Flood had destroyed much of what the Human Empire once was. The Forerunners thought of the Humans' retreat as an invasion and began to combat them and utterly defeat the already war exhausted human forces. Then the Flood attacked the Forerunners and when they pleaded with the Humans for the cure, the Humans destroyed it for the Forerunner's ignorance. The Forerunners then created the Halo Arrays and preserved all life before firing it and killing themselves. They placed the Humans at a Tier-0 priority and apologized for not believing them when they begged for help. The Librarian and Master Builder placed the Mantle onto the Humans and removed the Didact from power. Humanity then was at war with itself until the Covenant came and together they reawoke the Flood, afterwards, they created an Alliance with the Covenant Seperatists and fought back the Storm. They began to link up with other lifeforms from other dimensions and fought against their adversaries. Finally, they met with the NecroMongers, and the war began. The War of the Ancients." Francis told to his allies.


End file.
